Satire, the drunken pretender
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सब संबाल भ्याने लौंढे खडा केऊं गुंग । मदिरथी मता हुवा भुलि पाडी भंग ॥१॥
आपसकुं संबाल आपसकुं संबाल । मुंढे खुब राख ताल । मुथिवोहि बोला नहीं तो करूँगा हाल ॥ध्रु.॥
आवलका तो पीछें नहीं मुदल बिसर जाय । फिरते नहीं लाज रंडी गधे गोते खाय ॥२॥
जिन्हो खातिर इतना होता सो नहीं तुझे बेफाम । उचा जोरो लिया तुंबा तुंबा बुरा काम ॥३॥
निकल जावे चिकल जोरो मुंढे दिलदारी । जबानीकी छोड दे बात फिर एक तारी ॥४॥
कहे तुका फिसल रुका मेरेको दान देख । पकड धका गांडगुडघी मार चलाऊं आलेख ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Everyone is startled and stands reeling and mute; intoxicated by the wine of delusion, they have lost their senses. Guard yourself, guard yourself. O shaven-headed one, keep the rhythm well; if you will not even open your mouth, I will give you a hard time. The careless one forgets even his own capital and never looks back. The shameless wretch goes on swallowing dives into the water. The one for whose sake all this was done is not loyal to you; in a frenzy he has heaped up wicked deeds. Get away, clear out. O shaven one, show some courage of the heart. Drop the talk of mere words and come to the one string of truth. Says Tuka, stop slipping and sliding; look at what I am giving you. Seize it, push hard, get down on your knees, and let me draw up the account.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Everyone stands startled, reeling and dumb, drunk on the wine of delusion, their senses gone. Watch yourself, watch yourself. Shaven one, keep the beat well; if you will not even open your mouth, I will give you a hard time. The careless man forgets his own capital and never looks back. The shameless one keeps diving and swallowing water. The One for whose sake all this was done is not loyal to you; in a frenzy you have piled up wicked deeds. Get out, clear off. Shaven one, show some heart. Drop the talk of empty words; come to the one string of truth. Tuka says: stop slipping and sliding. Look at what I am giving you. Seize it, push hard, get down on your knees, and let me settle the account.
What it means
Tukaram aims this at the religious performer who is drunk on his own act and has lost the point of it. He plays the harsh drill-master to the shaven mendicant: keep the rhythm, open your mouth, stop forgetting that your own soul is the capital you are squandering. The cutting line is that the One for whose sake the whole show was begun gets nothing from it; the frenzy only heaps up harm. The poem ends as a hard offer rather than mere mockery: drop the noise of words, take hold of the single thread of truth, and kneel, and the reckoning can be set right.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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