Social criticism, the half-baked man
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लांब धांवे पाय चोरी । भरोवरी जनाच्या ॥1॥
आतां कैसें होय याचें । सिजतां काचें राहिलें ॥ध्रु.॥
खाय ओकी वेळोवेळां । कैसी कळा राहेल ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भावहीण । त्याचा सीण पाचावा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Feet run far to steal from others, creating turmoil among the people. Now what will become of this, when the uncooked remains raw? One eats and vomits again and again; how can any skill endure? Says Tuka, one devoid of devotion must face the grinding consequences.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
His feet run far to steal, off to plunder among other people. Now what will become of him? The thing was set to cook, and it stayed raw. He eats and throws it up again, over and over. How can any real skill last that way? Tuka says: the one without true devotion has to swallow the grinding result of it.
What it means
Tukaram aims this at a person whose energy runs the wrong way: quick on his feet to take what is not his, stirring up trouble among others. The image of food that is set to cook yet stays raw, eaten and vomited again and again, names a life that never ripens into anything; nothing he takes in stays down or becomes nourishment. Without real devotion at the center, no acquired skill or scheme can hold together. The closing is plain consequence, not gloating: a hollow, devotion-less life leaves a man to chew on his own bitter result. The mirror is for any of us whose effort goes everywhere except inward.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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