Social criticism, flee the quarreling town
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न मिळती एका एक । जये नगरीचे लोक ॥1॥
भलीं तेथें राहूं नये । क्षणें होईल न कळे काय ॥ध्रु.॥
न करितां अन्याय । बळें करी अपाय ॥2॥
नाहीं पुराणाची प्रीति । ठायींठायीं पंचाइती ॥3॥
भल्या बुया मारी । होतां कोणी न निवारी ॥4॥
अविचाया हातीं । देऊनि प्रजा नागविती ॥5॥
तुका ह्मणे दरी । सुखें सेवावी ते बरी ॥6॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In a city where people do not get along with one another, a good person should not stay. At any moment, something terrible may happen without warning. Even without provocation, they resort to violence. There is no love for sacred discourse; only quarreling at every turn. They beat the good and the gentle, and no one intervenes. The administration is handed to the unprincipled, who oppress the people. Says Tuka, better to dwell happily in a cave in the wilderness.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The people of some town cannot get along with one another. A good person should not stay there. In a moment, who knows what will happen. Even when no wrong is done, they do harm by force. They have no love for the sacred stories; there are disputes at every turn. They beat the good and the gentle, and no one steps in to stop it. Power is handed to the reckless, who strip the people bare. Tuka says: better to live happily in a cave in the wilderness.
What it means
Tukaram paints a town poisoned by strife and counsels the good to get out. Where people cannot live together, violence erupts without cause, there is no taste for sacred teaching, only endless quarrels, and the gentle are beaten while bystanders do nothing. Worst of all, authority falls to the unprincipled, who plunder those they should protect. His verdict is stark: a cave in the wild, lived in peace, is better than such a place. The poem is a judgment on the company we keep, that an environment ruled by malice and lawless power is no place to seek the good life.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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