Social criticism, the inner filth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दुर्जनाचें अंग अवघें चि सरळ । नकानचा कोथळ सांटवण ॥1॥
खाय अमंगळ बोले अमंगळ । उठवी कपाळ संघष्टणें ॥ध्रु.॥
सर्पा मंत्र चाले धरावया हातीं । खळाची ते जाती निखळे चि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कांहीं न साहे उपमा । आणीक अधमा वोखटएाची ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The wicked person's body may appear smooth on the outside, but within is a sack of filth. He eats what is impure, speaks what is impure, and strikes his forehead in quarrels. A serpent can be charmed by mantras and taken in hand, but the nature of a villain never straightens. Says Tuka, no comparison is adequate for one so wretched and vile.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The wicked man's body looks smooth all over, but inside he is a sack stuffed with filth. He eats what is foul and speaks what is foul, and bangs his own forehead in his quarrels. A snake can be charmed by a mantra and taken up in the hand, but the nature of a scoundrel never goes straight. Tuka says: no comparison is enough for one so vile; nothing is as low as such a low man.
What it means
Tukaram is contrasting a smooth surface with a foul inside to expose a pattern of hidden corruption. The body of the wicked may look unblemished, but within it is a sack of filth, and that inner state shows itself in foul eating, foul speech, and a temper that lashes out even against itself in quarrels. The sharpest line says even a snake can be tamed by mantra and held in the hand, but a scoundrel's crooked nature will not straighten by any means. He gives up on finding a fit comparison, saying nothing is as low as this. The verse asks the listener to look past appearances, and to examine whether the inside matches the smooth outside.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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