Social criticism, the ruinous son
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐसे कुळीं पुत्र होती । बुडविती पूर्वजा ॥1॥
चाहाडी चोरी भांडवला । वांटा आला भागासी ॥ध्रु.॥
त्याचियानें दुःखी मही । भार तेही न साहे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ग्रामपशु । केला नाशु अयुषा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Such are the sons born in certain families: they drown their own ancestors. Tale-bearing, theft, and quarreling have become their inheritance. The earth is made sorrowful by them and can scarcely bear their weight. Says Tuka, these village-beasts have destroyed their own life spans.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Such are the sons born in some families: they drown their own ancestors. Tale-bearing, theft, and quarreling have become their inheritance. The earth is made wretched by them and can barely bear their weight. Tuka says: these village-beasts have wasted their own lifespans.
What it means
Tukaram turns a hard eye on a familiar pattern: a son whose conduct disgraces the very ancestors who should be honored, dragging their name down. Instead of a worthy inheritance, all such a person carries forward is slander, theft, and constant quarreling. The image of the earth scarcely able to bear his weight names the stakes: a life that is pure burden, useless to everyone. The point is not contempt for one man but a warning against the pattern, a life squandered and turned into ruin, and an invitation to examine whether one is living that way.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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