Social criticism, talk of Brahman, no purity
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
घरोघरीं अवघें जालें ब्रह्मज्ञान । परि मेळवण बहु माजी ॥1॥
निरें कोणापाशीं होय एक रज । तरि द्या रे मज दुर्बळासी ॥ध्रु.॥
आशा तृष्णा माया कालवूनि दोन्ही । दंभ तो दूरोनि दिसतसे ॥2॥
काम क्रोध लोभ सिणवी बहुत । मेळवूनि आंत काळकूट ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे तेथें कांहीं हातां नये । आयुष्य मोलें जाये वांयांविण ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In every household, Brahman-knowledge has supposedly dawned, yet all one finds is adulteration in their mix. If anyone truly possesses even a grain of purity, please give it to me, a poor man. Desire and greed, maya and ambition are churned together, and hypocrisy stands visible from afar. Lust, anger, and greed exhaust one greatly, mixing deadly poison within. Says Tuka, nothing of value comes from all that. Life is spent uselessly for nothing.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In every house, knowledge of Brahman has supposedly dawned, yet all you find in the mix is adulteration. If anyone holds even a single grain of pure stuff, give it to me, a poor man. Desire and craving, maya and ambition are stirred in together, and hypocrisy is visible from far off. Lust, anger, and greed wear people out, churning deadly poison within. Tuka says: nothing of worth comes from all that. Life is spent uselessly, for nothing.
What it means
Tukaram mocks an age when everyone talks of having realized Brahman while their lives are wholly impure. He begs, half in irony, for even one grain of the genuine article, since none of it is real. What is actually mixed into these people is craving, illusion, and ambition, with hypocrisy so thick it shows from a distance. Inside, lust, anger, and greed grind away and brew a poison that exhausts them. The conclusion is stark: such hollow knowledge yields nothing, and a whole life goes to waste on it. The verse measures cheap spiritual talk against the cost of a life thrown away, and asks the listener to weigh his own.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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