Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गाढवाचे अंगीं चंदनाची उटी । राख तया तेणें केलीसे भेटी ॥1॥
सहज गुण जयाचे देहीं । पालट कांहीं नव्हे तया ॥ध्रु.॥
माकडाचे गळां मोलाचा मणि । घातला चावुनी टाकी थुंकोनि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे खळा नावडे हित । अविद्या वाढवी आपुलें मत ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If you rub sandalwood paste on a donkey, it rolls in the ashes at once. The inborn nature of a creature does not change. If you hang a precious gem around a monkey's neck, it chews it and spits it out. Says Tuka, the wicked have no taste for what is good. They only nurture their own ignorance.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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