Social criticism, poetry for scraps
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उष्टएा पत्रावळी करूनियां गोळा । दाखविती कळा कवित्वाची ॥1॥
ऐसे जे पातकी ते नरकीं पचती । जोंवरी भ्रमती चंद्रसूर्य ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे एक नारायण घ्याई । वरकडा वाहीं शोक असे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
They gather leftover leaf-plates and with them display their so-called poetic art. Such transgressors will be cooked in naraka for as long as the sun and moon continue to revolve. Says Tuka, take hold of the one Narayana. All else is lamentation and nothing more.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
They scrape together leftover leaf-plates, and with that they show off their so-called art of poetry. Such sinners will be cooked in naraka for as long as the sun and moon keep turning. Tuka says: take hold of the one Narayana. Everything else is only grief.
What it means
Tukaram is attacking a corruption of the poet's gift: making verse to beg leftovers and to parade one's cleverness rather than to praise God. He calls this a grave fault, condemned to long torment, because it turns a holy thing into a tool for the belly and for vanity. The contrast is the cure he names: lay hold of the one Narayana, the single true aim. Measured against that, every other use of one's words and life is wasted and ends in sorrow. The warning is aimed at the pattern of self-display, not at any one person's worth.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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