Social criticism, the squandered birth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कांहीं नित्यनेमाविण । अन्न खाय तो श्वान ॥ वांयां मनुष्यपण । भार वाहे तो वृषभ ॥१॥
त्याचा होय भूमी भार । नेणे यातीचा आचार ॥ जाला दावेदार । भोगवी अघोर पितरांसि ॥ध्रु.॥
अखंड अशुभ वाणी । खरें न बोले स्वप्नीं ॥ पापी तयाहुनी । आणीक नाहीं दुसरा ॥२॥
पोट पोसी एकला । भूतीं दया नाहीं ज्याला ॥ पाठीं लागे आल्या । अतिताचे दाराशीं ॥३॥
कांहीं संतांचे पूजन । न घडे तीर्थांचें भ्रमण ॥ यमाचा आंदण । सीण थोर पावेल ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे त्यांनीं । मनुष्यपणा केली हानी ॥ देवा विसरूनी । गेलीं म्हणतां मी माझें ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who eats without any daily discipline, he is a dog. One who wastes his humanness carrying burdens for nothing, he is an ox. Such a one is a burden upon the earth, ignorant of the conduct his station demands. Having become a claimant to the family line, he sends his ancestors into terrible suffering. One whose speech is forever inauspicious, who cannot speak truth even in a dream. There is no greater sinner than he; there is no other worse. One who feeds only his own belly, who has no compassion for any living being, and who hounds the guest that comes to his door. One who never worships the saints, for whom no pilgrimage ever comes to pass. He becomes an offering to Yama; great suffering he shall receive. Says Tuka, such people have squandered their humanness. Forgetting God, they were lost the moment they clung to "I" and "mine."
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A man who eats with no daily discipline at all is a dog. One who wastes his human birth hauling burdens for nothing is an ox. He is a weight on the earth, ignorant of how a human life should be lived, and by his conduct he drags even his ancestors into torment. His speech is forever foul; he cannot tell the truth even in a dream. There is no greater sinner anywhere. He feeds only his own belly, has no pity for any creature, and harasses the very guest who comes to his door. He never honors the saints, no pilgrimage is ever made. He becomes Death's own property, and great suffering awaits him. Tuka says: such people have thrown their humanness away. Forgetting God, they were lost the very moment they began to say, I and mine.
What it means
A full catalogue of the wasted human life, building to its single root cause. Tukaram runs through the signs, no discipline, no compassion, foul speech, inhospitality, neglect of saints and of God, and at each step strips away the dignity of the human birth: such a person is a dog, an ox, a mere weight on the earth, Death's property. But the last line names the source of it all. Every item on the list flows from one thing: forgetting God and clinging to I and mine. The moment the self becomes the center, the humanness is already squandered. The whole portrait is the cost of that one forgetting.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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