Social criticism, gifts that ruin both
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करी आणिकांचा अपमान । खळ छळवादी ब्राह्मण। तया देतां दान । नरका जाती उभयतां ॥1॥
तैसें जालें दोघांजणां। मागतिया यजमाना । जािळयेलें वनां । आपणासहित कांचणी॥ध्रु.॥
घडितां दगडाची नाव । मोल क्लेश गेले वाव । तरता नाहीं ठाव। बुडवी तारूं तरतीया ॥2॥
चोरा दिधला सांटा । तेणें मारियेल्या वाटा । तुका ह्मणे ताठा । हें तंव दोघे नाडती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A wicked and contentious Brahmin who insults others brings both giver and receiver to hell when gifts are offered to him. Both the beggar and the patron are ruined, like a goldsmith who burns down the forest along with himself. Building a boat of stone costs great effort and expense, yet it has no place to float and sinks the vessel of those who would cross. Says Tuka, giving one's store to a thief who robs the roads brings ruin to both sides through their stubbornness.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A wicked, quarrelsome Brahmin who insults others: give a gift to him, and both the giver and the taker go to hell. So it goes for the two of them, the patron who asks and the man he begs from; it is like a goldsmith who burns down a whole forest, and himself along with it. Build a boat out of stone, and the cost and the toil go to waste; it has no place to float and drowns the very ones who would cross. Give your store to a thief who robs the roads, Tuka says, and through their stubbornness both sides come to ruin.
What it means
Tukaram is warning that misplaced giving destroys giver and receiver alike. A gift handed to an arrogant, contentious priest who lives by insulting people does not earn merit; it drags both of them down, the way a goldsmith chasing a little gain can set fire to a forest and burn himself in it. He piles on images of effort spent on the worthless: a stone boat that cannot float and sinks its passengers, a gift handed to a highway robber. The point is discernment in religious giving; pouring devotion or charity into a corrupt vessel ruins everyone, and the stubbornness that keeps the practice going is itself the trap.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
More in this theme →