Social criticism, devotion without feeling
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अंधापुढें दीप नाचती नाचणें । भक्तिभावेंविण भक्ति तैसी ॥1॥
तिमाणें राखण ठेवियेलें सेता । घालुनियां माथां चुना तया ।
खादलें ह्मणोनि सेवटीं बोबाली । ठायींची भुली कां नेणां रया ॥ध्रु.॥
मुकियापासाव सांगतां पुराण । रोगिया मिष्टान्न काई होय ।
नपुंसका काय करील पिद्मणी । रुचिविण वाणी तैसे होय॥2॥
हात पाय नाहीं करिल तो काई । वृक्षा फळ आहे अमोलिक।
हातां नये तैसा वांयां च तळमळी । भावेंविण भोळीं ह्मणे तुका ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What use is a feast set before a madman? How can a lamp serve one who is blind? Devotion without genuine feeling is just the same. A scarecrow is set to guard the field, with lime pasted on its head, yet it cries foul when the crop is eaten; why do you not recognize the original delusion? Telling the Puranas to a mute, giving delicacies to the sick, presenting a beautiful woman to a eunuch, or uttering words without relish: all yield nothing. A tree bears priceless fruit, but if it cannot be reached, one only agonizes in vain. Says Tuka, the simple-minded without genuine feeling labor in vain.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A lamp dances before a blind man, dancing for nothing. Devotion without true feeling is just like that. A scarecrow is set to guard the field, lime smeared on its head. The crop is eaten, and at the end it cries out. Why do you not see the delusion in it from the start? Telling the Puranas to a mute, sweet food to a sick man, a beautiful woman to a eunuch, words spoken without relish: all of it yields nothing. The tree has priceless fruit, but it cannot be reached. So one only burns in vain. Tuka says: the simple-hearted without true feeling labor for nothing.
What it means
Tukaram is hammering one point through a string of images: action without inner feeling is wasted. A lamp shown to a blind man, a feast before the sick, the Puranas read to a mute, a scarecrow that guards nothing yet protests when the crop is gone, each is effort spent on something that cannot receive it. So too is devotion performed without genuine feeling. The fruit may be priceless, but if you cannot truly reach for it you only agonize in vain. The sting is meant for self-examination: he is not despising the simple-hearted but warning that going through the motions, however earnest, bears no fruit unless real feeling is present.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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