Social criticism, the painted tiger
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वाघाचा काळभूत दिसे वाघाऐसा । परी नाहीं दशा साच अंगीं ॥1॥
बाहेरील रंग निवडी कसोटी । संघष्टणें भेटी आपेआप ॥ध्रु.॥
सिकविलें तैसें नाचावें माकडें । न चले त्यापुढें युक्ति कांहीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे करी लटिक्याचा सांटा । फजित तो खोटा शीघ्र होय ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A painted imitation may look like a tiger, but it does not have the tiger's true nature within. Outward color is tested by the touchstone; true contact reveals itself of its own accord. A monkey dances as it has been trained, and no cleverness can change that. Says Tuka, the one who stores up falsehood is quickly exposed and put to shame.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A painted likeness can look just like a tiger, but it has no real tiger inside it. The touchstone sorts out mere outward color; true substance shows itself when it is rubbed and tested. A monkey dances the way it was trained to dance, and no cleverness can make it more than that. Tuka says: whoever hoards up falsehood is exposed quickly and shamed.
What it means
Tukaram tests appearance against substance using three plain images: a painted tiger, the goldsmith's touchstone, and a trained monkey. A holy look, a learned manner, a performance of piety can be perfectly convincing and still be hollow; what is real only proves itself under friction and trial. The trained monkey is the sharpest blow: rote, imitated religion can repeat the right moves yet stays a trick, not a transformation. The poem points at the gap between the role we perform and what we actually are inside. Its warning is that stored-up pretense does not last; sooner or later it is rubbed against reality and shown for what it is.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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