Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय वृंदावन मोहियेलें गुळें । काय जिरें काळें उपचारिलें ॥1॥
तैसी अधमाची जाती च अधम । उपदेश श्रम करावा तो ॥ध्रु.॥
न कळे विंचासी कुरवािळलें अंग । आपले ते रंग दावीतसे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नये पाकासी दगड । शूकरासी गोड जैसी विष्ठा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Has the sacred basil plant been won over with sweetness? Has the bitter cumin been tamed by tender care? Just so, a lowborn nature remains low; all instruction lavished upon it is wasted labor. The scorpion does not understand your caresses; it only shows its own colors. Says Tuka, you cannot cook a stone; the pig delights only in filth.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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