Social criticism, the obstinate heart cannot be taught
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
शिकवणें नाक झाडी । पुढील जोडी कळेना ॥1॥
निरयगांवीं भोग देता । तेथें सत्ता आणिकांची ॥ध्रु.॥
अवगुणांचा सांटा करी । ते चि धरी जीवासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जडबुिद्ध । कर्मशुद्धी सांडवीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You wipe his nose and teach him manners, yet he cannot see the gain that lies ahead. In the realm of hell, others hold the power, not he. He hoards a store of vices and clings to them with his very life. Says Tuka, his intellect is dull. Make him purify his actions.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You wipe his nose and try to teach him, and still he cannot see the gain that lies ahead. In the town of hell the suffering is dealt out, and there the power is in another's hands. He gathers a hoard of vices and holds onto them with his very life. Tuka says: his mind is dull. Make him purify his deeds.
What it means
Tukaram describes a person too stubborn to learn even when patiently taught. You care for him like a child, yet he cannot grasp the reward that lies ahead, so he piles up faults and clings to them as if they were his life. He forgets that in the realm of suffering the power belongs to others, not to him, and there will be no escaping the account. The remedy Tukaram urges is not contempt but correction: get him to purify his actions. Look at the dullness as a pattern, the heart that hoards its vices and refuses the gain it cannot yet see.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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