Moral ideal, the stolen gift of land
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वडिलें दिलें भूमिदान । तें जो मागे अभिळासून ॥1॥
अग्रपूजेचा अधिकारी । श्रेष्ठ दंड यमा घरीं ॥ध्रु.॥
उभयकुल समवेत । नकाअ प्रवेश अद्भुत ॥2॥
तप्तलोहें भेटी । तुका ह्मणे कल्पकोटी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If one reclaims the land that one's forefathers gave as a charitable donation, the one who held the honor of first worship will receive the harshest punishment in Yama's house. Together with both family lines, he enters a dreadful hell. Says Tuka, for an entire cosmic age, he must embrace pillars of burning iron.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Land that the elders gave away in charity, and a man takes it back out of greed. He once held the honor of the first worship; now the worst punishment in Yama's house is his. Both family lines go with him. The descent into hell is terrible. Tuka says: for ten million ages he embraces pillars of burning iron.
What it means
Tukaram names one specific betrayal and follows it all the way to its end. Land that ancestors donated as a sacred charity is reclaimed by a descendant out of pure covetousness, and the higher the man's former standing, the heavier the reckoning. The penalty is not his alone: both lineages are dragged down with him, and the entry into hell is dreadful. The closing image fixes the scale, embracing pillars of burning iron for ten million ages, so that a quiet act of greed is measured against an almost endless suffering. The poem asks the listener to weigh what a gift once consecrated really costs to take back.
The Moral Ideal
Purity, sincerity, truthfulness, humility, peacefulness, and service.
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