Social criticism, the heedless and karma
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चावळलें काय न करी बडबड । न ह्मणे फिकें गोड भुकेलें तें ॥1॥
उमजल्याविण न धरी सांभाळ । असो खळखळ जनाची हे ॥ध्रु.॥
गरज्या न कळे आपुलिया चाडा । करावी ते पीडा कोणा काई ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भोग भोगितील भोगें । संचित तें जोगें आहे कोणा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A restless tongue babbles without ceasing; a starving person does not distinguish between stale and fresh. Without understanding, one cannot exercise restraint; let the clamor of the world be as it may. The needy one does not recognize his own wants; why should he inflict his pain on others? Says Tuka, people will reap what their accumulated karma has sown; let each one's past deeds answer for them.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A restless tongue babbles without stopping. A starving person does not tell stale food from fresh. Without understanding, no one holds any restraint. Let the clamor of the world be as it is. The needy one does not see his own wants. Why should he force his pain onto others? Tuka says: people will reap what their gathered deeds have sown. Each one's past answers for them.
What it means
Tukaram is describing how people without inner understanding behave, and where he leaves them. The hungry and the restless cannot discriminate or restrain themselves; lacking insight, they babble and grab, and the world stays noisy with this. He notices that the needy, blind to their own craving, end up inflicting their pain on others. Rather than condemn them, he hands the matter to karma: each person reaps what their accumulated deeds have planted, so their own past, not his judgment, will settle the account.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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