Social criticism, no rank saves you
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विषयांचे लोलिंगत । ते फजीत होतील ॥1॥
न सरे येथें यातिकुळ । शुद्ध मूळबीज व्हावें ॥ध्रु.॥
शिखासूत्र सोंग वरि । दुराचारी दंड पावे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे अभिमाना । नारायणा न सोसे॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who wallow in sensory pleasures will be put to shame. Caste and lineage will not avail them here; one must become pure from the root. The outward marks of sacred thread and topknot are mere appearance; the one of corrupt conduct will be punished. Says Tuka, Narayana cannot endure pride.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those who wallow in the pleasures of the senses will be put to shame. Caste and lineage will not help you here. You must become pure from the root. The sacred thread and the topknot are only an outward costume. The one whose conduct is corrupt is punished. Tuka says: Narayana cannot bear pride.
What it means
Tukaram strips away every credential a person hides behind. Birth, caste, and family line carry no weight in the matter that counts; what is asked for is purity at the root, not on the surface. The sacred thread and topknot, the visible badges of religious status, are called a costume: they decorate the outside while the conduct beneath stays rotten, and that conduct is what gets punished. The poem ends on the deepest cause: Narayana cannot endure pride. The whole apparatus of rank is itself the pride that God will not abide, so the warning turns the listener inward to examine what they are actually leaning on.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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