Social criticism, the true hero against the divided heart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तरि च होय वेडी । नग्न होय धडफुडी ॥1॥
काय बोलाचें गौरव । आंत वरी दोन भाव ॥ध्रु.॥
मृगजळा न्याहािळतां। तान न वजाये सेवितां ॥2॥
न पाहे आणिकांची आस । शूर बोलिजे तयास ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे हें लक्षण । संत अळंकार लेणें॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Only then is one truly mad, when one stands naked and unbowed. What glory is there in mere words when the inside and outside hold two different feelings? Gazing at a mirage does not quench one's thirst. One who looks to no other for support is the true hero. Says Tuka, this is the mark of a saint, and these are the true ornaments.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Only then is one truly mad: when one stands naked and unashamed, the same all through. What worth is there in grand words, when inside and outside hold two different feelings? Staring at a mirage does not quench your thirst when you go to drink. The man who looks to no one else for support, call him the true hero. Tuka says: this is the mark of a saint, and these are his real ornaments.
What it means
Tukaram draws the line between show and substance. Grand speech is worthless when the heart inside differs from the face outside; such a divided man is like a mirage that looks like water but leaves the thirst unquenched. Real madness, the holy kind, is to stand utterly transparent, the same within and without, with nothing hidden. The genuine hero is the one who depends on no one else, leaning only where true support lies. These qualities, integrity and self-reliance in God, are the saint's true ornaments; everything else is decoration over emptiness, and the test is whether inside and outside agree.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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