Social criticism, the self-important talker
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जाणिवेच्या भारें चेंपला उर । सदा बुरबुर सरे चि ना ॥1॥
किती याचें ऐकों कानीं । मारिलें घाणीं नाळकरी ॥ध्रु.॥
मिठेंविण आळणी बोल । कोरडी फोल घसघस ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे डेंगा न कळे हित । किती फजित करूं तरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Weighed down by the burden of self-importance, his chest is crushed, and the endless grumbling never ceases. How long shall I endure hearing this in my ears? He is like an ox yoked to a grinding mill. His words without salt are flat and tasteless, dry and hollow, grating to hear. Says Tuka, the fool does not recognize what is good for him, no matter how much he is shown.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
His chest is crushed under the weight of his own cleverness, and the grumbling in him never stops. How long must I hear this in my ears? He is like an ox yoked to the grinding mill. His words have no salt, flat and tasteless, dry and hollow, grating to hear. Tuka says: the fool cannot see his own good. How many times can I expose him?
What it means
Tukaram describes a man so loaded with self-importance that it presses on his own chest, and from him comes an endless low grumbling. He compares him to an ox bound to a grinding mill, going round and round without rest or gain. The man's speech is unsalted, flat and dry, painful to listen to, all noise and no substance. The frustration in the closing line is that such a fool cannot recognize what would actually help him, no matter how often the truth is laid bare. The poem aims at the pattern of vain, deaf self-regard, which is also a warning to look for it in oneself.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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