Satire, the wife who rules a slave to lust
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भ्रतारेंसी भार्या बोले गुज गोष्टी । मज ऐसी कष्टी नाहीं दुजी ॥1॥
अखंड तुमचें धंद्यावरी मन । माझें तों हेळण करिती सर्व ॥ध्रु.॥
जोडितसां तुह्मी खाती हेरेंचोरें । माझीं तंव पोरें हळहळीती ॥2॥
तुमची व्याली माझे डाई हो पेटली । सदा दुष्ट बोली सोसवेना ॥3॥
दुष्टव्रुति नंदुली सदा द्वेष करी । नांदों मी संसारीं कोण्या सुखें ॥4॥
भावा दीर कांहीं धड हा न बोले । नांदों कोणां खालें कैसी आतां ॥5॥
माझ्या अंगसंगें तुह्मांसी विश्रांति । मग धडगति नाहीं तुमची ॥6॥
ठाकतें उमकतें जीव मुठी धरूनि। परि तुह्मी अजूनि न धरा लाज ॥7॥
वेगळे निघतां संसार करीन । नाहीं तरी प्राण देतें आतां ॥8॥
तुका ह्मणे जाला कामाचा अंकित। सांगे मनोगत तैसा वर्ते ॥9॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A wife speaks intimately to her husband: there is no one as miserable as I. Your mind is always absorbed in business; everyone neglects me. You earn, but thieves and pilferers consume it, while my children go hungry. Your mother, that demon, has turned against me; her harsh words are unbearable. My wicked sister-in-law harbors constant malice; in what happiness shall I continue in this household? The brother-in-law speaks nothing straight. Under whose shelter shall I now live? Only in your embrace do I find rest, but then you lose all sense of propriety. I hold my breath and clench my fists in anguish, yet even now you show no shame. Let us separate and set up our own home, or else I will end my life right now. Says Tuka, one who has become a slave to desire speaks his mind and acts accordingly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A wife speaks close to her husband, telling her woes. There is no one as wretched as I am. Your mind is always on your business. Everyone here treats me as nothing. You earn, and thieves and pilferers eat it up, while my children go hungry. Your mother, that demon, has turned on me; I cannot bear her cruel words. My wicked sister-in-law hates me without end. In what happiness am I to live in this house? The brother-in-law never says one straight word. Under whose shelter am I now to stay? Only in my arms do you find rest; after that you keep no sense of shame. I hold my breath and clench my fists in pain, and still you feel no shame. Set up a separate home, and I will keep house. If not, I will give up my life right now. Tuka says: a man who has become the servant of lust speaks her mind and acts just as she wishes.
What it means
Tukaram stages a marital quarrel to expose what desire does to a man. The wife pours out grievance after grievance against his family and then issues the demand: break from your parents and siblings, set up a separate house for me alone, or I will die. The point lands in the signature line: the husband, enslaved to lust, has no mind of his own; he simply echoes whatever she wants and obeys. Examine the pattern, not the woman: when craving rules, a person surrenders their own judgment and is led wherever the desire points. The household here is the inner life that craving tears apart.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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