Social criticism, the kirtan-shy gossip
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवाचें चरित्र नाठवे सर्वथा । विनोदार्थ कथा गोड वाटे ॥1॥
हातावरि हात हासोनि आफळी । वाजवितां टाळी लाज वाटे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे थुंका त्याच्या तोंडावरि । जातो यमपुरी भोगावया ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who never remembers the deeds of God yet finds pleasure in gossip and idle tales, one who claps hands with laughter but feels ashamed to clap in kirtan. Says Tuka, spit upon the face of such a one. He is headed for the city of Yama to suffer.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Here is one who never once remembers the deeds of God, yet finds gossip and idle tales sweet. He claps his hands and laughs along with them, but feels ashamed to clap his hands in kirtan. Tuka says: spit on the face of such a one. He is going to the city of Yama to suffer.
What it means
Tukaram is naming a split that a person carries in his own two hands. The same hands clap freely for gossip and laughter but go shy and ashamed when it is time to clap in kirtan, and the mouth that loves idle tales never once recalls what God has done. The harsh line, spit on that face, is aimed at the pattern, not at scorn for a soul: it asks you to feel the shame in the right place. Tukaram lands the stake by following the habit to its end. A life spent shameless about gossip and ashamed of the Name walks itself toward Yama's city and its suffering.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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