Social criticism, the thief-son the parents cheer
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पुत्र जाला चोर । मायबापा हर्ष थोर ॥1॥
आतां काशासाटीं जोडी । हाट धाटे गुंडगे घडी ॥ध्रु.॥
ऐते अपाहार । आणूनियां भरी घर ॥2॥
मानिली नििंश्चती । नरका जावया उभयतीं॥3॥
झोडाझोडगीचे पोटीं । फळें बीजें तीं करंटीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे बेटएा ॥ भांडवल न लगे खटएा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The son has become a thief, and the parents are overjoyed. Now why should he toil? He robs and swindles at every turn. He brings home stolen goods and fills the house with them. Both parents have settled into the certainty that they are all headed for hell together. In the womb of wickedness, the seed and its fruit are both wretched. Says Tuka, the scoundrel needs no capital for his trade.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The son has become a thief, and the parents are overjoyed. Now why should he work for a living? He robs and swindles at every turn. He brings stolen goods home and fills the house with them. Both parents have settled into the certainty that the whole household is bound for hell together. In the womb of wickedness, the seed and the fruit are both wretched. Tuka says: the scoundrel needs no capital for his trade.
What it means
Tukaram turns a hard light on a household that has made peace with corruption. The son steals and cheats, and rather than grieve, the parents are delighted at the easy haul; so he never needs honest work. They have grown comfortable in a settled certainty that is really the road to hell, and they walk it together. The line about womb, seed, and fruit names the pattern: a family that nurtures wickedness raises only more of it. The closing barb, that the scoundrel needs no capital, points at how cheap and self-feeding theft becomes once shame is gone; the warning is for any house tempted to cheer the easy gain.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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