Social criticism, the henpecked man
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बाइले अधीन होय ज्याचें जिणें । तयाच्या अवलोकनें पडिजे द्वाड ॥1॥
कासया ते जंत जिताती संसारीं । माकडाच्या परी गारोडएांच्या ॥ध्रु.॥
वाइलेच्या मना येईल तें खरें । अभागी तें पुरें बाइलेचें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मेंग्या गाढवाचें जिणें । कुतयाचें खाणें लगबगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One whose life is governed by his wife makes even the onlooker feel ill. Why do such creatures live at all? They are like monkeys in the hands of a street performer. Whatever the wife's mind desires, that becomes the truth; the unfortunate man is entirely her creature. Says Tuka, his is the life of a wretched donkey, eating hurriedly like a dog.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A man whose life is ruled by his wife: even to look at him makes you sick. Why do such creatures live at all? They are like monkeys in a street performer's hands. Whatever her mind wants becomes the truth. The wretched man is wholly hers. Tuka says: his is the life of a wretched donkey, eating in a hurry like a dog.
What it means
Tukaram is again pointing at a pattern of total surrender to appetite and to another's will, dressed up as a portrait of the henpecked man. The monkey on the performer's string is the image: the man no longer moves himself, he is pulled. When another's wants become the only truth, the self that should turn to God is gone. The contempt in the lines is aimed at that bondage and meant to make the listener look hard at his own leash, not to despise the man for sport.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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