Social criticism, the incorrigible man
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कुतयाऐसें ज्याचें जिणें । संग कोणी न करीजे॥1॥
जाय तिकडे हाडहाडी । गोहवाडी च सोइरीं ॥ध्रु.॥
अवगुणांचा त्याग नाहीं । खवळे पाहीं उपदेशें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कैंची लवी । ठेंग्या केवीं अंकुर ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One whose life is like a dog's should not be kept in company. Wherever he goes there is only hostility; his only kin are those of the gutter. His faults do not diminish; in fact, counsel only inflames them further. Says Tuka, how can a stump that is dead sprout any shoots?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One whose life is like a dog's: do not keep his company. Wherever he goes there is only snarling; his only kin are gutter folk. His faults never lessen; counsel only inflames him. Tuka says: where is the green shoot? How can a dead stump sprout?
What it means
Tukaram warns against the company of a man who cannot be corrected. He likens such a life to a dog's, met everywhere with hostility and at home only among the low. The hard observation is that good advice does not help this man; it angers him and makes his faults worse, so counsel is wasted on him. The closing image, a dead stump that cannot put out a shoot, names the condition: there is no living root for the teaching to take hold in. The point is discernment about who can receive correction, not contempt for the person, and a warning to examine whether one is hardening against counsel oneself.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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