Social criticism, the cruelty of deceit
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अंधळ्याची काठी । हिरोनियां कडा लोटी ॥1॥
हें कां देखण्या उचित । लाभ किंवा कांहीं हित ॥ध्रु.॥
साकर ह्मणोनि माती । चाळवूनि द्यावी हातीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वाटे । देवा पसरावे सराटे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
To snatch the blind man's staff and push him over a cliff: is that the conduct befitting one who can see? Is there any gain or good in it? To place clay in someone's hand calling it sugar: is that a fair deception? Says Tuka, it is as if one spreads thorns on the path to God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To grab the blind man's staff and push him off the cliff: is that fit conduct for one who can see? Is there any gain in it, any good? To put clay in someone's hand and call it sugar, to cheat him into taking it: is that fair? Tuka says: it is like spreading thorns on the road that leads to God.
What it means
Tukaram condemns the betrayal of those who trust us, especially the weak. Snatching the blind man's stick and shoving him over the edge is the picture of using one's advantage to destroy a helpless person, and he asks flatly what could possibly be gained by it. Handing someone clay while calling it sugar is the everyday version: deceiving the one who relies on your word. He names the cost in spiritual terms: such cruelty and fraud scatter thorns across the very path that goes to God, wounding the deceiver's own journey. The poem holds up honesty toward the trusting as a measure of true conduct.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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