Social criticism, confronting the wicked
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दुर्जनाचा मान । सुखें करावा खंडण ॥1॥
लात हाणोनियां वारी । गुंड वाट शुद्ध करी ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुतां पीडी खळ । त्याचा धरावा विटाळ ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नखें । काढुनि टाकिजेती सुखें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The honor of the wicked should be gladly dismantled. Kick the ruffian aside and clear the road. When a villain oppresses many, hold him as one to be shunned. Says Tuka, such nails should be clipped and cast away with pleasure.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The honor of the wicked should be gladly torn down. Kick the ruffian out of the way and clear the road clean. When a villain torments many, treat him as a thing to be shunned. Tuka says: such nails should be clipped and thrown away, and gladly.
What it means
Tukaram speaks bluntly against the standing that bullies and wrongdoers enjoy. Where a villain oppresses many, he says their borrowed honor should be stripped without hesitation and the road they block cleared. The hard images, kicking aside the ruffian, clipping off the nail, are aimed at the harm such a person does to the many, not at relishing cruelty for its own sake. He treats unchecked wickedness as a thing to be set apart and removed, the way you cut away a nail that scratches. The poem is a refusal to let politeness shield those who prey on others, and the energy is for protecting the many they hurt.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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