Social criticism, cleverness against truth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चातुर्याच्या अनंतकळा । सत्या विरळा जाणत ॥1॥
हांसत्यासवें हांसे जन । रडतां भिन्न पालटे ॥ध्रु.॥
जळो ऐसे वांजट बोल । गुणां मोल भूस मिथ्या ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे अंधळ्याऐसें । वोंगळ पिसें कौतुक ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Cleverness has endless tricks, but rare is the one who knows truth. The world laughs with those who laugh and turns away from those who weep. Let such hollow words burn; they assign false value to qualities and dismiss what is real. Says Tuka, it is like the delight of the blind, a filthy madness parading as wonder.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Cleverness has endless tricks; rare is the one who knows the truth. People laugh along with the one who laughs and turn away when he weeps. Let such hollow words burn: they price up empty qualities and call the real thing worthless. Tuka says: it is like the delight of the blind, a filthy madness paraded as a wonder.
What it means
Tukaram attacks shallow cleverness and the crowd that rewards it. He notes that wit has endless tricks while real knowledge of truth is rare, and that people are fickle: they laugh with you while you laugh and abandon you when you weep. He wishes such hollow talk would burn, because it inflates worthless show and dismisses what is genuine. His closing image is harsh on purpose: this acclaim is like the blind admiring a spectacle, a dirty madness mistaken for marvel. The contempt is pointed at the empty pattern of fashion-following, not at any single person caught in it.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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