Social criticism, the belly-driven coward
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतां नाहीं मान । देव मानी मुसलमान ॥1॥
ऐसे पोटाचे मारिले । देवा आशा विटंबिले ॥ध्रु.॥
घाली लोटांगण । वंदी नीचाचे चरण ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धर्म । न कळे माजल्याचा भ्रम॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He shows no reverence to the saints but bows before anyone of worldly power. Driven by his belly, he has degraded devotion to God. He prostrates and honors the feet of the unworthy. Says Tuka, the arrogant fool does not understand true dharma.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He gives no honor to the saints, yet treats worldly power as a god. Such people, beaten down by their own bellies, have disgraced themselves through their craving. He throws himself flat on the ground and reveres the feet of the low. Tuka says: the swollen, arrogant man does not know what dharma is.
What it means
Tukaram exposes the person who slights holy people while groveling before whoever holds power and can fill his stomach. The driving force he names is the belly: hunger and craving have made the man cheapen his own devotion and bow where there is nothing worth bowing to. He prostrates fully and honors the feet of the unworthy, mistaking position for holiness. The last line lands the diagnosis: such a man, puffed up and deluded, has lost the very sense of what dharma is. The hard look is meant to turn back on us, to ask whom we bend to and what appetite is bending us.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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