Social criticism, the hollow preacher
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कोरडएा गोठी चटक्या बोल । शिकल्या सांगे नाहीं ओल ॥1॥
कोण यांचें मना आणी । ऐकों कानीं नाइकोनि ॥ध्रु.॥
घरोघरीं सांगती ज्ञान । भूस सिणें कांडिती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आपुल्या मति । काय रितीं पोकळें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Dry lectures, clever quips, and learned recitations, all delivered without a drop of genuine feeling. They do not truly hear with their own ears; one cannot bear to listen. In every household they preach knowledge, yet all they are pounding is chaff and husk. Says Tuka, following their own mati alone, they remain hollow and empty.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Dry talk, clever phrases, learned lines reeled off with no moisture in them. Who takes this to heart? You hear it with the ears, but you cannot really listen. House to house they preach knowledge, and all they pound is husk and chaff. Tuka says: trusting only their own cleverness, they stay empty.
What it means
Tukaram is attacking a way of speaking, not putting down any one teacher. Words about God delivered with no living feeling are dry; clever recitation lands on the ear but never reaches the heart, so no one can truly take it in. He gives the sharp image of threshing husk: all the effort produces no grain, no real food. The warning turns inward too: when a person leans only on his own quick mind and skips the inward devotion, his teaching stays hollow.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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