Social criticism, kirtan sold for money
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कथा करोनिया द्रव्य घेती देती । तयां अधोगति नरकवास ॥1॥
रवरव कुंभपाक भोगिती यातना । नये नारायणा करुणा त्यांची ॥ध्रु.॥
असिखड्गधारा छेदिती सर्वांग । तप्तभूमी अंग लोळविती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तया नरक न चुकती । सांपडले हातीं यमाचिया ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who perform kirtan for money and take payment for it will descend to the lower regions and dwell in hell. They shall endure the torments of Raurava and Kumbhipaka; Narayana will show them no mercy. The sword's edge will cut their limbs, and their bodies will be rolled upon burning ground. Says Tuka, they shall not escape hell, for they have fallen into the hands of Yama.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those who perform the sacred telling for money, taking and giving payment, go down to the lower worlds and dwell in hell. They suffer the torments of Raurava and Kumbhipaka; Narayana shows them no mercy. The sword's edge cuts their whole body, and they are rolled on burning ground. Tuka says: they do not escape hell, for they have fallen into the hands of Yama.
What it means
Tukaram is condemning the practice of turning kirtan into a paid transaction. To take money for the sacred telling is, in his eyes, to sell what cannot be sold, and he says the seller descends to the lowest worlds. He names the hells, Raurava and Kumbhipaka, and the tortures of blade and burning ground, insisting even Narayana withholds mercy here. The vivid punishments are meant to weigh the seriousness of the offense, not to gloat. The pattern under attack is making devotion a trade for profit; the self-examination he forces is whether we use what is holy as a means to gain.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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