Social criticism, the puddle frog
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वसनें थिल्लरीं । बेडुक सागरा धिक्कारी ॥1॥
नाहीं देखिला ना ठावा । तोंड पिटी करी हांवा ॥ध्रु.॥
फुगातें काउळें । ह्मणे मी राजहंसा आगळें ॥2॥
गजाहूनि खर । ह्मणे चांगला मी फार ॥3॥
मुलाम्याचें नाणें । तुका ह्मणे नव्हे सोनें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A frog living in a puddle dares to mock the ocean. Having neither seen it nor known its whereabouts, it slaps its mouth and boasts. A puffed-up crow declares itself superior to the royal swan. A donkey says it is far finer than an elephant. Says Tuka, a coin of base metal can never become gold.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A frog that lives in a puddle dares to scorn the ocean. It has never seen it, does not know where it lies, yet it slaps its mouth and brags. A puffed-up crow says it outshines the royal swan. A donkey says it is far finer than the elephant. Tuka says: a gilded coin is not gold.
What it means
Tukaram is mocking the loud confidence of the small and ignorant. The frog in its puddle ridicules the ocean it has never seen, which is exactly how a narrow mind judges what is vast: from inside its own little pool, with noise instead of knowledge. The crow against the swan and the donkey against the elephant pile on the same conceit, each lesser thing declaring itself the greater. The closing line is the test that strips all of it: a coin merely plated with shine is not gold underneath. The satire points at the pattern of empty self-praise, and quietly asks us whether our own claims are gold or only gilt.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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