Social criticism, the singer for hire
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वरतें करोनियां तोंड । हाका मारितो प्रचंड ॥1॥
राग आळवितो नाना । गातो काय तें कळेना ॥ध्रु.॥
आशा धरोनि मनीं । कांहीं देईल ह्मणऊनि ॥2॥
पोटा एका साटीं । तुका ह्मणे जाले कष्टी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He turns his face upward and bellows mightily. He modulates various melodies and sings, but what he sings no one can tell. He sings holding hope in his mind that someone will perhaps give him something. Says Tuka, all that labor for the sake of one belly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He turns his face upward and bellows loudly. He runs through one melody after another and sings, but no one can tell what he is singing. He sings holding hope in his mind that someone will give him something. Tuka says: all that labor, for the sake of one belly.
What it means
Tukaram sketches a performer who makes a great show of singing, face raised, voice booming, running through many tunes, while the meaning is empty and nobody can follow it. The reason for the noise is named plainly: he sings in the hope that a listener will hand him something. The closing line lands the verdict, that all this loud effort is spent only to fill one stomach. The poem holds up the hollow display against true song, and turns the listener toward asking what really drives their own performance and devotion.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
More in this theme →