Social criticism, the poet who never tasted grace
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
घरोघरीं बहु जाले कवि । नेणे प्रसादाची चवी ॥1॥
लंडा भूषणांची चाड । पुढें न विचारी नाड ॥ध्रु.॥
काढावें आइतें। तें चि जोडावें स्वहितें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कळे । परि होताती अंधळे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In every household, many poets have appeared, but none of them know the taste of God's true grace. The wretch craves ornaments of fame without considering the ruin ahead. One should extract what is readily available and apply it for one's own true welfare. Says Tuka, people understand this, yet they choose to remain blind.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In every house many poets have appeared, but none of them knows the taste of grace. The wretch craves ornaments of fame and does not look ahead to the ruin. One should take up what is ready at hand and turn it to one's own true good. Tuka says: they understand it, yet they go on being blind.
What it means
Tukaram is turning a hard eye on verse-makers, his own trade, who write without ever tasting what they describe. Poets are everywhere, he says, but skill with words is not the same as knowing the flavor of grace. The one driven by craving for praise decorates himself with fame and never reckons with the ruin it leads to. The instruction is to take the grace that is freely available and use it for one's actual welfare. The sting is in the close: people see this clearly enough, yet they choose blindness anyway. The criticism points at the appetite for applause, not at any one person.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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