Social criticism, the slanderer of saints
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अखंड संत निंदी । ऐसी दुर्जनाची बुिद्ध ॥1॥
काय ह्मणावें तयासी । तो केवळ पापरासि ॥ध्रु.॥
जो स्मरे रामराम । तयासी ह्मणावें रिकामें ॥2॥
जो तीर्थव्रत करी । तयासी ह्मणावें भिकारी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे विंच्वाची नांगी । तैसा दुर्जन सर्वांगीं॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The wicked one ceaselessly slanders the saints. Such is the nature of the malicious. What can one say to him? He is nothing but a heap of sin. He calls the one who chants Rama's name idle and useless. He calls the one who goes on pilgrimage a beggar. Says Tuka, the sting of a scorpion is in its tail, but the wicked one is venomous in every limb.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He never stops slandering the saints; such is the mind of the malicious man. What can you say to him? He is nothing but a heap of sin. The one who remembers Rama, Rama, he calls idle and useless. The one who keeps pilgrimage and vow, he calls a beggar. Tuka says: the scorpion's sting is in its tail, but the wicked one is venomous in every limb.
What it means
Tukaram describes the man whose settled habit is to slander the holy and mock devotion. Such a person inverts every good: the one who chants Rama's name he dismisses as idle, the one who keeps pilgrimage and vow he scorns as a beggar. Tukaram does not argue with him, judging him a heap of sin, beyond reasoning. The final image is exact and damning: a scorpion carries its venom only in its tail, but this man's malice runs through his whole being, leaving no harmless part. The poem warns the listener about the pattern of habitual contempt for goodness, which poisons a person through and through.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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