Social criticism, devotion that wants
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अज्ञानाची भक्ति इिच्छती संपत्ती । तयाचिये मती बोध कैंचा ॥1॥
अज्ञानाची पूजा कामिक भावना । तयाचिया ध्याना देव कैंचा ॥ध्रु.॥
अज्ञानाचें कर्म फळीं ठेवी मन । निष्काम साधन तया कैंचें ॥2॥
अज्ञानाचें ज्ञान विषयावरी ध्यान । ब्रह्म सनातन तया कैंचें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे जळो ऐसियांचे तोंड । अज्ञानाचें बंड वाढविती ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The devotion of the ignorant craves only wealth. How can wisdom dawn in such a mind? The worship of the ignorant is driven by desire. How can God be present in such meditation? The karma of the ignorant fixes its mind on results. How can selfless practice come to such a one? The knowledge of the ignorant is fixed on sense-objects. How can the eternal Brahman come to such a one? Says Tuka, let the mouths of such people burn. They only spread the riot of ignorance.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The devotion of the ignorant craves wealth; how could understanding dawn in such a mind? The worship of the ignorant is moved by desire; how could God live in such meditation? The work of the ignorant keeps its eye on the reward; how could selfless practice come to him? The knowledge of the ignorant is fixed on the things of the senses; how could the eternal Brahman come to him? Tuka says: let such mouths burn. They only swell the riot of ignorance.
What it means
Tukaram lays bare a devotion that is really self-seeking. The ignorant man prays for wealth, worships out of desire, works only for the fruit, and calls his sense-bound thinking knowledge; in each case the saint asks how God or wisdom could possibly enter so blocked a heart. The whole structure is a mirror for self-examination: it asks the listener to notice which of these motives is secretly his own. The harsh closing curse is aimed not at any single person but at the pattern itself, the loud false teaching that spreads ignorance instead of dispelling it.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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