Social criticism, the false holy man
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काळतोंडा सुना । भलतें चोरुनि करी जना ॥1॥
धिग त्याचें साधुपण । विटाळुनि वर्ते मन ॥ध्रु.॥
मंत्र ऐसे घोकी । वश व्हावें जेणें लोकीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे थीत । नागवला नव्हे हित॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The dark-faced wretch secretly does whatever mischief he pleases. Cursed be his saintliness; his mind acts from corruption. He memorizes mantras only to gain power over people. Says Tuka, such a one has been stripped bare, and there is no good in him.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The dark-faced wretch does whatever he likes in secret, behind people's backs. Curse his holiness; his mind moves in defilement. He drones his mantras only so he can gain power over people. Tuka says: in truth such a one has been stripped bare. There is no good left in him.
What it means
Tukaram exposes a piety that is a front for control. The man keeps a saintly surface in public while doing as he pleases in secret, so the holiness is a curse rather than a virtue; his inner mind is defiled even as his outer act is clean. The giveaway is the motive behind his recited mantras: he uses them to bind and dominate others, not to seek God. The warning points at the pattern, not at one named man: religious technique aimed at power over people leaves a person inwardly empty, robbed of the very good it pretends to.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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