Social criticism, gurus who sell initiation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गुरुमार्गामुळें भ्रष्ट सर्वकाळ । ह्मणती याती कुळ नाहीं ब्रह्मीं ॥1॥
पवित्राला ह्मणती नको हा कंटक । मानिती आित्मक अनामिका ॥ध्रु.॥
डोहोर होलार दासी बलुती बारा । उपदेशिती फारा रांडापोरा ॥2॥
कांहीं टाण्या टोण्या विप्र शिष्य होती । उघडी फजिती स्वधर्माची ॥3॥
नसता करुनी होम खाती एके ठायीं । ह्मणती पाप नाहीं मोक्ष येणें ॥4॥
इंिद्रयांचे पेठे भला कौल देती । मर्यादा जकाती माफ केली ॥5॥
नाहीं शास्त्राधार पात्रापात्र नेणे । उपदेशून घेणें द्रव्य कांहीं ॥6॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसे गुरु शिष्य पूर्ण । विठोबाची आण नरका जाती ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Straying from the true guru's path, they proclaim that caste and clan do not exist in Brahman. They call the ritually pure a nuisance and honor the unknown and unnamed. They initiate washermen, cobblers, household servants, and all twelve community workers, giving instruction to any and every person. Some brahmins become disciples of such teachers, openly disgracing their own tradition. They perform invented rituals and eat together, saying there is no sin in it and that this is the way to liberation. They give license to the senses and abolish all rules of propriety. With no scriptural basis and no discernment of worthy and unworthy, they simply take money for their initiation. Says Tuka, such gurus and disciples are destined for hell; I swear by Vithoba.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Straying from the true guru's path, they declare that caste and clan do not exist in Brahman. They call the pure a nuisance and honor the unknown and unnamed. They initiate washermen, cobblers, servants, all twelve community workers, giving instruction to anyone at all. Some brahmins become disciples of such teachers, openly disgracing their own tradition. They perform invented rituals and eat together, saying there is no sin in it and that this is the road to liberation. They license the senses and abolish every rule of propriety. With no scriptural basis and no sense of who is fit, they simply take money for initiation. Tuka says: such gurus and disciples are bound for hell; I swear it by Vithoba.
What it means
Tukaram attacks teachers who, in his view, have abandoned the real path and dressed up selling initiation as spiritual freedom. His complaint is that they make a doctrine of having no standards: instructing anyone, inventing rituals, calling the senses free, and waving away every rule, all while pocketing the fee. The phrases about caste and community belong to his world, but the charge underneath is timeless, a warning against the teacher who removes every demand precisely because it sells. He closes by swearing on Vithoba that such trade ends in hell, aiming the heat at the pattern of buying and selling the sacred, and asking the listener to weigh what a teaching actually costs the soul.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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