Social criticism, the blind passing on the blind
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं हित ठावें जननीजनका । दाविले लौकिकाचार तींहीं ॥1॥
अंधळ्याचे काठी अंधळें लागलें । घात एकवेळे मागेंपुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
न ठेवावी चाली करावा विचार । वरील आहार गळी लावी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे केला निवाडा रोकडा । राऊत हा घोडा हातोहातीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Parents do not truly know what is good for their children. They merely teach the customs and conventions of society. It is like the blind leading the blind with a stick; sooner or later, both will stumble. One should not follow old ways blindly but should reason carefully, for the bait on the hook above leads only to the throat. Says Tuka, the verdict has been given on the spot. The horseman and the horse have been exchanged hand to hand.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Parents do not know what is truly good for their children. All they teach them is the customs of the world. It is the blind led with the blind man's stick; sooner or later, the one in front and the one behind, both fall. Do not just keep walking the old path. Stop and think. The bait set high on the hook drags you down by the throat. Tuka says: the verdict is settled here and now. The rider and the horse have changed hands.
What it means
Tukaram turns a hard eye on inherited religion. He says parents pass on only the conventions of society, not what actually saves a person, so child follows parent the way a blind man follows another blind man's stick, and both end in the ditch. The point is not contempt for parents; it is a warning against following any path without examining it for yourself. The worldly comforts dangled in front of you are bait on a hook: swallow them and they catch you by the throat. The closing image, rider and horse exchanged hand to hand, names how the trap is handed down from one generation to the next, with the verdict already passed.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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