Social criticism, gems mistaken for glass
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
रत्नाच्या वोवणी कांचे ऐशा घरी । आव्हेरुनी दुरी अधिकारें ॥1॥
जातिस्वभाव आला डोळ्यां आड । तया घडे नाड न कळतां ॥ध्रु.॥
कामधेनु देखे जैशा गाईह्मैसी । आणिकांतें ऐसी करोनियां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काय बोलोनियां फार । जयाचा वेव्हार तया साजे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who, blinded by his own nature, dismisses gems as though they were glass has brought ruin upon himself unknowingly. He looks upon the wish-fulfilling cow as though she were an ordinary buffalo, and treats everything else the same way. Says Tuka, what more can be said? Each one's dealings suit himself.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A man strings gems in a house and then, with his pride of rank, pushes them away as if they were glass. His inborn nature comes between his eyes and what he sees, so he is ruined without knowing it. He looks at the wish-fulfilling cow as though she were just a cow or a buffalo, and he treats everything else the same way. Tuka says: what is the use of saying more? Each person's dealings suit what he is.
What it means
Tukaram is pointing at the man who cannot tell value from worthlessness because his own conceit blinds him. He has real gems in hand yet throws them aside as glass, and out of pride of caste or rank he fails to recognize what stands before him. The image of the wish-fulfilling cow seen as an ordinary beast names what is at stake: he is in the presence of something priceless, even God or the true teacher, and treats it as common. The warning is not contempt for the man but a mirror; the way you handle what you meet reveals exactly what you are.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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