Social criticism, shun the shameless
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गयाळाचें काम हिताचा आवारा । लाज फजितखोरा असत नाहीं ॥1॥
चित्ता न मिळे तें डोळां सलों येतें । असावें परतें जवळूनि ॥ध्रु.॥
न करावा संग न बोलावी मात । सावधान चित्त नाहीं त्यासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दुःख देतील माकडें । घालिती सांकडें उफराटें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The work of a lazy person undermines what is beneficial. The shameless one has no sense of embarrassment. What does not agree with the chitta is painful to the eyes; one should keep a distance from such people. Do not keep their company, do not engage in conversation with them; they have no alertness of mind. Says Tuka, monkeys will only bring you grief, creating obstacles at every turn.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The work of a lazy person ruins what is good. The shameless one feels no embarrassment. What does not agree with the heart hurts the eyes; keep such people at a distance. Do not keep their company. Do not talk with them. They have no watchfulness of mind. Tuka says: monkeys will only bring you grief; they twist things and make trouble at every turn.
What it means
Tukaram is warning about the company we keep. He says a careless, shameless person spoils whatever is good and feels nothing about it, and being near such people grates on the heart the way grit grates on the eye. His counsel is plain: keep your distance, do not befriend them, do not even talk with them, because their minds are not awake and they cannot help dragging you down. The comparison to monkeys names the pattern, the restless mischief that twists everything backward, and the verse turns the listener toward guarding the steadiness of their own mind.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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