Worldly life, the youth drunk on pride
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तारुण्याच्या मदें न मनी कोणासी । सदा मुसमुसी खूळ जैसा ॥1॥
अंठोनी वेंठोनीं बांधला मुंडासा । फिरतसे ह्मैसा जनामधीं ॥ध्रु.॥
हातीं दीडपान वरती च मान । नाहीं तो सन्मान भलियांसी ॥2॥
श्वानाचिया परी हिंडे दारोदारीं । पाहे परनारी पापदृष्टी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसा थोर हा गयाळी । करितां टवाळी जन्म गेला ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Drunk on youth, he respects no one, always smirking like a madman. With his turban tied in fancy knots, he roams among people like a buffalo. A betel leaf in hand, his head held high, he shows no honor to the good. Like a dog he wanders door to door, casting his sinful gaze on other men's wives. Says Tuka, what a great wastrel, spending his whole life in idle mischief.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Drunk on youth, he honors no one, forever smirking like a fool. His turban tied in fancy folds, he wanders among people like a buffalo. A betel leaf in hand, his chin held high, he shows no respect to good men. Like a dog he roams from door to door, eyeing other men's wives with a sinful gaze. Tuka says: what a great wastrel he is; his life went by in idle mischief.
What it means
Tukaram draws the second stage of the wasted life: youth swollen with self-importance. The man honors no one, struts with a smirk and a fancy turban, chews his betel with his chin up, and gives the good no respect at all. The animal images are deliberate, the buffalo and the door-to-door dog, because appetite and vanity have crowded out everything human, down to the leering eye on other men's wives. The verdict is that the whole season of strength was spent on idle mischief. The poem is holding up a mirror to the swagger of youth, not condemning a person past hope.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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