Social criticism, chasing empty juice
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जेथें पाहें तेथें कांडिती भूस । चिपाडें चोखूनि पाहाती रस ॥1॥
काय सांगों देवा भुलले जीव । बहु यांची येतसे कींव ॥ध्रु.॥
वेठीचें मोटळें लटिकें चि फुगे । पेणिया जाऊनि भिक्षा मागे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कां उगे चि खोल । जवळी दाखवी आपणां बोल ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Wherever I look, people are winnowing chaff, chewing on sugarcane rinds, and searching for juice that is not there. What can I say, O Lord? These deluded jivas fill me with pity. The burden they carry by force is nothing but hollow puffery; having gone to a wealthy house, they still beg for scraps. Says Tuka, why dig an empty well? Show yourself the truth that is right beside you.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Wherever I look, people are pounding chaff and chewing dry rinds, hunting for juice that is not there. What can I say, God? These souls are deluded; great pity comes for them. The forced bundle is only hollow, all puff. They reach a rich house and still beg for scraps. Tuka says: why keep digging an empty well? Show yourself the truth that is right beside you.
What it means
Tukaram surveys the people around him and sees them working at things that yield nothing: threshing husks, chewing spent sugarcane, squeezing for juice that has already been pressed out. He turns to God with pity rather than scorn, calling these souls deluded. His images sharpen the waste: the load they carry is hollow puff, and even standing at a wealthy house they go on begging for scraps instead of receiving the wealth. The closing line points the rebuke inward, asking why anyone keeps digging a dry well when the real thing is right beside him, waiting to be seen. The target is the pattern of misplaced effort, not contempt for the person.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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