Social criticism, the slanderer's trade
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दुर्जनाची जोडी । सज्जनाचे खेंटर तोडी ॥1॥
पाहे निमित्य तें उणें । धांवे छळावया सुनें ॥ध्रु.॥
न ह्मणे रामराम । मनें वाचे हें चि काम ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भागा । आली निंदा करी मागा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The company of the wicked breaks the bonds of the good. The villain looks for the smallest flaw and rushes to persecute with cunning. He never utters Rama's name; his sole occupation, in word and thought, is malice. Says Tuka, slander has come as his inheritance, and he pursues it relentlessly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The company of the wicked breaks the bonds among the good. The villain looks for the smallest fault and runs to harass with cunning, like a dog set loose. He never says Rama, Rama. In thought and word his only work is malice. Tuka says: slander has come to him as his inheritance, and he chases after it.
What it means
Tukaram is drawing the portrait of the habitual slanderer and the harm he does. Such a person pries apart the ties between good people, hunting for the tiniest flaw and rushing in to persecute with a dog's relentlessness. His mouth never holds the name of Rama; malice in thought and speech is his entire occupation. Calling slander his inheritance, Tukaram points at how deeply the pattern has become second nature. The warning, set beside the previous verses, is again to know this trade and keep away from it, and to check it in oneself.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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