Social criticism, rigid pride
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अंगा भरला ताठा । नये वळणी जैसा खुंटा ॥1॥
कैसें न कळे त्या डेंगा । हित आदळलें अंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
जीव जाते वेळे । भरे लकडा ताठी डोळे ॥2॥
मुसळाचें धनु । तुका ह्मणे नव्हे अनु ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
His body is rigid with pride, unbending like a post. The fool cannot see even when goodness strikes him in the face. Even at the moment of death, the stubborn one fills his eyes with arrogance. Says Tuka, a pestle cannot become a bow; it is simply not in its nature.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
His body is stiff with pride, unbending like a fixed post. The fool cannot see, even when his own good strikes him in the face. Even at the hour of death, the stubborn one fills his eyes with arrogance. Tuka says: a pestle cannot be made into a bow; it is just not in its nature.
What it means
Tukaram describes the man so hardened by pride that he cannot be bent toward his own welfare. Good comes and hits him head on, yet he does not recognize it; arrogance blinds him even as he is dying, when there is nothing left to be proud about. The closing image lands the verdict: a heavy straight pestle can never be curved into a bow, and such a man's rigidity has become his fixed nature. The mirror it holds up is the danger of letting pride set so hard that even the moment of death cannot soften it.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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