Satire, the husband led like a donkey by craving
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कामाचा अंकित कांतेतें प्राथिनत । तूं कां हो दुिश्चत्त निरंतर ॥1॥
माझीं मायबापें बंधु हो बहिण । तुज करी सीण त्यागीन मी ॥ध्रु.॥
त्यांचें जरि तोंड पाहेन मागुता । तरि मज हत्या घडो तुझी ॥2॥
सकाळ उठोन वेगळा निघेन । वाहातों तुझी आण निश्चयेंसी ॥3॥
वेगळें निघतां घडीन दोरे चुडा । तूं तंव माझा जोडा जन्माचा कीं ॥4॥
ताईत सांकळी गळांचि दुलडी । बाजुबंदजोडी हातसर ॥5॥
वेणीचे जे नग सर्व ही करीन । नको धरूं सीण मनीं कांहीं ॥6॥
नेसावया साडी सेलारी चुनडी । अंगींची कांचोळी जािळया फुलें ॥7॥
तुका ह्मणे केला रांडेनें गाढव । मनासवें धांव घेतलीसे ॥8॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Enslaved by desire, the husband pleads with his wife: why are you always so unhappy? My parents, brothers, and sisters, I will abandon all of them if they cause you grief. If I ever look upon their faces again, may the sin of your murder fall upon me. Tomorrow morning I will move out on my own. I swear this oath to you with certainty. When we set up our own home, I will have bangles and a necklace made for you, a gold chain, a pendant, arm-bands, and bracelets. I will have every ornament for your hair made as well. Do not carry any sorrow in your mind. A silk sari, a fine shawl, a bodice, a net of flowers for your blouse. Says Tuka, the woman has made a donkey of him, and he runs wherever his mind leads.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A man enslaved to lust pleads with his wife. Why are you unhappy all the time? My mother and father, my brothers and sister: if they cause you grief, I will abandon them all. If I ever look on their faces again, may the guilt of your murder fall on me. Tomorrow morning I will move out on my own. I swear this oath to you for certain. Once we set up our own home, I will have bangles and a necklace made for you. You are my partner for this whole life. An amulet, a chain, a double-stranded necklace, a pair of arm-bands, a bracelet. I will have every ornament for your hair made too. Do not carry any sorrow in your mind. A sari to wear, a fine shawl, a bodice, a net of flowers for your blouse. Tuka says: the woman has made a donkey of him, and he runs wherever his mind leads.
What it means
This is the answering half of the quarrel, now from the man's side. To soothe his wife he renounces his own parents and siblings, swears terrible oaths, and promises an endless list of ornaments and fine clothes. Tukaram lets the cascade of bribes run long on purpose, because each gift is one more proof of how completely the man has surrendered. The signature line names it plainly: craving has made him a donkey, dragged along behind his own appetite. Look at the pattern in yourself: when desire takes the reins, a person will throw over every loyalty and promise anything to keep feeding it.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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