Social criticism, hollow titles
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सावित्रीची विटंबण । रांडपण करीतसे ॥1॥
काय जाळावें तें नांव । अवघें वाव असे तें ॥ध्रु.॥
कुबिर नांव मोळी वाहे। कैसी पाहें फजिती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ठुणगुण देखें । उगीं मूर्ख काुंफ्दतां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Savitri's honor is disgraced; widowhood is imposed upon her. Why should one burn such a name that is all emptiness? Kubera by name, yet he carries bundles of wood on his head; see what a disgrace. Says Tuka, look at this absurd spectacle, and stop applauding foolishly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Savitri's honor is disgraced; widowhood is forced on her. Why keep alive a name that is all emptiness? A man named Kubera carries bundles of firewood on his head; see what a disgrace it is. Tuka says: look at this absurd show, and stop applauding like a fool.
What it means
Tukaram mocks the gap between a grand name and an empty reality. A woman called Savitri, whose name recalls a wife who won her husband back from death, is left a widow; a man named Kubera, the lord of wealth, hauls firewood for a living. The names promise everything and deliver nothing, so he asks why such hollow labels should be honored at all. The sting is not aimed at the poor woman or the laborer themselves, but at the foolishness that keeps applauding empty titles. He tells the onlooker to stop clapping for a show that has no substance behind it.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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