Social criticism, the gilded hypocrite
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गुळें माखोनियां दगड ठेविला । वर दिसे भला लोकाचारी ॥1॥
अंतरीं विषयाचें लागलें पैं पिसें । बाहिरल्या वेषें भुलवी लोकां ॥ध्रु.॥
ऐसिया डांभिकां कैची हरिसेवा । नेणे चि सद्भावा कोणे काळीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे येणें कैसा होय संत । विटाळलें चित्त कामक्रोधें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He has coated a stone with jaggery and set it out; on the surface it looks fine to the world. But within, the madness of sensory pleasures has taken hold; he deceives people with his outward garb. How can such a hypocrite serve Hari? He has never known genuine devotion. Says Tuka, how can such a one become a saint when his mind is polluted with lust and anger?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He has smeared a stone with jaggery and set it out; on the surface it looks fine, fit for the world's customs. But inside, the madness for sense-pleasure has gripped him; with his outward dress he fools the people. How can such a fraud do the service of Hari? He has never once known true devotion. Tuka says: how can such a man become a saint, when his heart is fouled with lust and anger?
What it means
Tukaram strips the disguise off religious pretense. His image is a plain stone coated in jaggery: sweet and respectable on the outside, worthless within. So with the hypocrite whose pious costume hides a mind eaten by craving; the costume deceives the crowd but not the truth. The saint asks plainly how such a man could serve Hari or be counted a saint while lust and anger still pollute his heart. The criticism is aimed at the pattern of outward show over inner cleanness, and it presses the listener to ask whether his own piety is more than a coating.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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