Social criticism, the hollow renouncer
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तरी कां वोळगणे । राजद्वारीं होती सुने ॥1॥
अंगीं दावुनि निष्कामता । पोकळ पोकळी ते वृथा ॥ध्रु.॥
कासया मोकळ। भोंवतें शिष्यांचे गाबाळ ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ढाळे । बाहेर गुदे तें निराळें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Then why do they haunt the royal courts, hovering at the doorstep like empty vessels? They display renunciation outwardly, but inside they are hollow and vain. Why do they trail crowds of disciples around them for no real purpose? Says Tuka, what spills out and what churns inside are two very different things.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Then why do they hang about the royal courts, waiting at the doorstep like empty vessels? They show renunciation on the outside, but inside they are hollow and false. Why do they drag crowds of disciples around them for no real purpose? Tuka says: what spills out and what churns inside are two very different things.
What it means
Tukaram catches the contradiction in a renouncer who has supposedly given up desire yet loiters at the doors of kings hoping for favor. He calls the displayed detachment hollow, an outside that does not match the inside, and questions the entourage of disciples gathered for show rather than for any true teaching. The closing line is the test: the words and gestures a person spills out in public are one thing, what actually churns within them is another. The aim is to weigh our own inner state against our outer reputation, not to despise the man.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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