Social criticism, the incurable nature
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काविळयासी नाहीं दया उपकार । कािळमा अंतर विटाळसें ॥1॥
तैसें कुधनाचें जिणें अमंगळ । घाणेरी वोंगळ वदे वाणी ॥ध्रु.॥
कडु भोंपळ्याचा उपचारें पाक । सेविल्या तिडीक कपाळासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे विष सांडूं नेणे साप । आदरें तें पाप त्याचे ठायीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Jaundice knows no gratitude or kindness; its inner darkness remains a defilement. Similarly, the life of wicked wealth is impure. Its speech is foul and filthy. No amount of preparation can make a bitter gourd palatable; one who consumes it gets only a headache. Says Tuka, a snake cannot abandon its venom; sin is inherent in its very nature.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Jaundice has no gratitude and gives no kindness; its darkness stays inside as a stain. So too the life lived on wicked wealth is foul. Its speech is filthy and unclean. No amount of cooking makes a bitter gourd sweet; eat it and you get only a splitting head. Tuka says: a snake does not know how to give up its venom. Sin sits at home in such a one, honored there.
What it means
Tukaram is describing a pattern that does not change from the outside, not condemning a person beyond hope. Jaundice tints everything it touches; a bitter gourd stays bitter however carefully you prepare it; a snake carries its venom by its very nature. He uses these to name a way of living that is rooted in ill-gotten gain and foul speech: dress it up however you like, the inner stain remains. The warning is meant to be turned inward, so a listener checks whether the rot is being carried within rather than merely cooked over. Where harm is held as a guest and made welcome, no surface remedy reaches it.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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