Social criticism, the empty rite
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संध्या करितोसी केशवाच्या नांवें । आरंभीं तें ठावें नाहीं कैसें ॥1॥
किती या सांगावें करूनि फजित । खळ नेणे हित जवळीं तें ॥ध्रु.॥
माजल्या न कळे उचित तें काय । नेघावें तें खाय घ्यावें सांडी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे घेती भिंती सवें डोकें । वावसी तें एकें अंधारलीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You perform your daily prayers in Keshava's name, yet you do not recognize him at the very start. How much must one say to expose the fool? The wicked one does not see the good that stands right before him. The pampered one cannot discern what is proper; he eats what should not be taken and discards what should be received. Says Tuka, they bang their heads against the wall; their eyes have gone dark pursuing emptiness.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You say your evening prayers in Keshava's name. But at the very start you do not even know him; how can that be? How much must I say to shame the fool? The wicked one cannot see the good that stands right beside him. The puffed-up man does not know what is fitting. He eats what should be left, and he leaves what should be taken. Tuka says: they bang their heads against the wall. Some grope about, blind in the dark.
What it means
Tukaram attacks a religion done by name only. The man recites prayers in Keshava's name, yet he does not actually know the God those prayers are addressed to, so the whole rite is hollow at its root. The poem names the pattern of a hardened, self-pleased heart: it cannot recognize the good standing right next to it, and it gets every choice backward, keeping what should be dropped and dropping what should be kept. The closing images are blunt: such a life is heads banging a wall and hands groping in the dark. The sting points at the pattern of going through the motions, and it asks the listener to check whether his own worship knows the One it names.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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