Social criticism, the means must match
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ज्यासी विषयाचें ध्यान । त्यासी कैंचा नारायण॥1॥
साधु कैंचा पापीयासी । काय चांडाळासी काशी ॥ध्रु.॥
काय पतितासी पिता । काय अधमासी गीता ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे निरंजनी। शट कैंचा ब्रह्मज्ञानी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One whose mind is fixed on sense-pleasures cannot find Narayana. How can a wrongdoer find a saint? What does a wretch gain by going to Kashi? What good is a father to the fallen? What use is the Gita to the wicked? Says Tuka, a fraud can never become a knower of Brahman.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One whose mind is fixed on sense-pleasures cannot find Narayana. How can a wrongdoer find a saint? What does a wretch gain by going to Kashi? What good is a father to one who has fallen? What use is the Gita to the wicked? Tuka says: a fraud can never become a knower of Brahman.
What it means
Tukaram is hammering one point through a string of rhetorical questions: an outward holy thing is useless to a heart that is still turned the wrong way. A mind fastened to pleasure will not meet Narayana; pilgrimage to Kashi, a guiding father, the Gita itself, all are wasted on someone unwilling to change. The blunt close names the trap: a fraud cannot reach knowledge of Brahman simply by handling sacred things. The verse points not at any one person but at the pattern of wanting the reward without doing the inner work, and asks the listener to check which side of that line they stand on.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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