Social criticism, verse for hire
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एकाचिये सोई कवित्वाचे बांधे । बांधिलिया साध्य काय तेथें ॥1॥
काय हातीं लागे भुसाचे कांडणीं । सत्यासी दाटणी करुनि काय ॥ध्रु.॥
कवित्वाचे रूढी पायां पाडी जग । सुखावोनि मग नरका जाय ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देव केल्याविण साहे । फजिती आहे लटिक्या अंगीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Binding words into poetic form to please one particular patron: what is truly gained by it? What does one get by husking chaff? What use is it to suppress the truth? By the prestige of poetic craft one may bring the world to one's feet, but after that momentary pleasure, one goes straight to hell. Says Tuka, unless one has truly realized God, the false one ends up humiliated.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Tying words into verse to flatter some particular patron, what is really gained by that? What do you get by husking empty chaff? What is the use of crushing the truth to do it? The prestige of clever poetry may bring the whole world to your feet, but after that brief pleasure you go straight to hell. Tuka says: unless you have actually realized God, the fraud is left humiliated in the end.
What it means
Tukaram, himself a poet, turns on poetry written for patronage and applause. Verse composed to flatter a patron or win fame is husking chaff: a great deal of noise and nothing nourishing. Worse, it suppresses the truth for the sake of effect, and the renown it wins is a brief pleasure bought at a steep price. His standard is the one he applies everywhere: the words are worthless unless they come from real realization of God. Craft without that is not just empty but ruinous, and the clever fraud is finally exposed.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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