Satire, the guru who brought ruin
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भाग्यासाटीं गुरु केला । नाहीं आह्मांसी फळला॥1॥
याचा मंत्र पडतां कानीं । आमच्या पेवांत गेलें पाणी ॥ध्रु.॥
गुरु केला घरवासी । आमच्या चुकल्या गाईम्हसी ॥2॥
स्वामी आपुली बुटबुट घ्यावी । आमुची प्रताप टाकुन द्यावी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसे नष्ट । त्यांसी दुणे होती कष्ट ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I took a guru for the sake of good fortune, but it did not bear fruit for me. The moment his mantra entered my ears, water flooded into our granary. I chose a householder guru, and our cows and buffaloes went astray. Master, you should keep your own faults to yourself and let go of your claim on my achievements. Says Tuka, such worthless ones only bring redoubled misery.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I took a guru for good fortune. He bore me no fruit. The moment his mantra fell on my ears, water flooded into our granary. I took a householder guru, and our cows and buffaloes wandered off. Master, keep your own ruin to yourself; let go of your claim on what I gain. Tuka says: such worthless ones only double a person's troubles.
What it means
Tukaram aims his wit at the worldly guru taken for profit rather than for God. He went looking for good fortune through a teacher, and the verse reports a string of comic disasters: the mantra arrived, the granary flooded, the livestock strayed. The complaint is that a guru who is himself sunk in household concerns has nothing real to give and yet claims credit for the disciple's gains. The criticism points at a pattern, the spiritual transaction entered for material reward, and warns that leaning on such a teacher only multiplies trouble. The self-examination is to ask why one sought a guru for fortune at all.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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