Social criticism, the false cannot become the true
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दुधाळ गाढवी जरी जाली पाहे । पावेल ते काय धेनुसरी ॥1॥
कागाचिया गळा पुष्पाचिया माळा । हंसाची तो कळा काय जाणे ॥ध्रु.॥
मर्कटें अंघोळी लावियेले टिळे । ब्राह्मणाचे लीळे वर्तूं नेणे ॥2॥
जरी तो ब्राह्मण जाला कर्मभ्रष्ट । तुका ह्मणे श्रेष्ठ तिहीं लोकीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even if a she-donkey began to give milk, would it match the worth of a cow? A garland of flowers around a crow's neck does not give it the grace of a swan. A monkey may bathe and wear a sacred mark, yet it cannot behave as a brahmin does. Says Tuka, even if a brahmin has fallen from his duties, he remains honored in all three worlds.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Look, even if a she-donkey gave milk, could she ever match a cow? Hang a garland of flowers on a crow's neck. It will never know the grace of a swan. A monkey may take a bath and wear the holy mark. It still cannot live as a brahmin lives. Tuka says: even a brahmin who has fallen from his duties is honored in all three worlds.
What it means
Tukaram is testing the difference between an imitation and the real thing. A donkey that gives milk, a crow draped in flowers, a monkey marked and bathed: each puts on the appearance of something higher and still cannot become it. The sharp turn comes at the end, where he says even a brahmin lapsed in his duties keeps his honor across the three worlds. Read against his own life as an outcaste devotee, this is the voice of a settled social order, and it can sting. The examination it invites is honest: do not mistake borrowed marks and gestures for the inward thing they imitate.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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