Social criticism, the loose tongue among saints
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतापाशीं बहु असावें मर्यादा । फलकटाचा धंदा उर फोडी ॥1॥
वासर तो भुंके गाढवाचेपरी । उडे पाठीवरि दंड तेणें ॥ध्रु.॥
समय नेणें तें वेडें चाहाटळ । अवगुणाचा ओंगळ मान पावे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काय वांयां चाळवणी । पिटपिटघाणी हागवणेची ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One should observe great restraint in the company of saints. The business of idle chatter only bursts one's own chest. That one barks like a donkey, and for that it receives blows upon its back. One who does not know the proper time or place is a prattling wanderer who earns only the foul dishonor that vice brings. Says Tuka, why this useless babbling? It is nothing but the clacking stench of shit.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In the company of saints you must keep great restraint. The trade of idle chatter only splits your own chest open. Such a one barks like a donkey, and for that, blows land on his back. The one who does not know the right time or place is a babbling fool who earns only the foul shame that vice brings. Tuka says: what is the use of this empty prattle? It is nothing but the clattering stench of diarrhea.
What it means
Tukaram is blunt about the discipline of speech in holy company. The pattern he attacks is the person who cannot hold his tongue, who chatters and shows off and times his words badly in a gathering meant for restraint. He piles on coarse images, braying like a donkey, earning blows, the clatter and stench of loose bowels, to make idle talk feel as ugly as it is. The point is self-examination, not contempt for any one person: empty babble gains nothing but disgrace, and even one's own chest is wounded by it. In the presence of the holy, silence and measured speech are themselves a practice.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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