Social criticism, the false listener
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कथा पुराण ऐकतां । झोंप नाथिलि तत्त्वता । खाटेवरि पडतां । व्यापी चिंता तळमळ ॥1॥
ऐसी गहन कर्मगति। काय तयासी रडती । जाले जाणते जो चित्तीं । कांहीं नेघे आपुला॥ध्रु.॥
उदक लावितां न धरे । चिंता करी केव्हां सरे । जाऊं नका धीरें । ह्मणे करितां ढवाळ्या ॥2॥
जवळी गोंचिड क्षीरा । जैसी कमळणी ददुनरा । तुका ह्मणे दुरा । देशत्यागें तयासी ॥3॥
संदेह बाधक आपआपणयांतें । रज्जुसर्पवत भासतसे।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When listening to sacred stories and Puranas, the pretender's drowsiness is no true knowledge. Lying in bed, the mind is consumed by worry and restlessness. Such is the depth of karma's hold; those who call themselves wise gain nothing from their knowledge. When watering the field, they worry about when it will be done; they resist yet pretend to be making progress. Says Tuka, like a tick that clings close to the milk, or a frog near a lotus, such a one must be sent far away.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You sit through the holy stories and the Puranas, and you doze; that sleep is not knowledge. You lie down on your bed, and worry and restlessness fill you. Such is the deep grip of karma. What good is weeping over it? The one who calls himself wise in his own mind gains nothing of his own. You water the field but keep asking when it will be done. You drag your feet, yet you pretend you are getting somewhere. You cling close like a tick to the milk, like a frog beside the lotus. Tuka says: such a one must be sent far away.
What it means
Tukaram is exposing the man who attends spiritual talks but is not really there. He nods off during the sacred stories, then tosses in bed all night with worry, because nothing has entered him; his drowsiness is mistaken for absorption. The poem names the pattern: a man can call himself wise and still draw no profit from what he hears, dragging his feet while pretending to advance. The tick beside the milk and the frog beside the lotus are images of someone right next to the sweetness yet tasting none of it, and the call to send him far away points at the habit of fake attendance, not at the worth of the person. It is an invitation to examine whether our own listening is real or just proximity.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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