Social criticism, selling the kirtan
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कीर्त्तनाचा विकरा मातेचें गमन । भाड खाई धन विटाळ तो ॥1॥
हरिभक्ताचि माता हे हरिगुणकीिर्त्त । इजवर पोट भरिती चांडाळ ते ॥ध्रु.॥
अंत्यज हा ऐसें कल्पांतीं करीना । भाड हे खाईना जननीची ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे त्याचें दर्शन ही खोटें । पूर्वजांसि नेटें नरका धाडी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Selling kirtan for profit is like trafficking in one's own mother. The glory of Hari's devotion is the mother of all devotees, and those who make a living from her are the lowest of the low. Even one cast out by society would never, until the end of time, do such a thing as selling his own mother for gain. Says Tuka, even the sight of such a person is inauspicious; he sends his own ancestors to hell.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To sell kirtan for money is to traffic in your own mother. You eat the wage; that is filth. The praise of Hari's virtues is the devotee's mother; the lowest wretches fill their bellies off her. Even an outcast would never, to the end of time, do such a thing; he would not eat a wage taken from his own mother. Tuka says: even the sight of such a man is false and foul; he drives his own ancestors into hell.
What it means
Tukaram attacks the practice of turning sacred song into a trade. He calls the glory of Hari the very mother of every devotee, so to charge a fee for kirtan is, in his image, to live off the sale of one's mother. The point is the pattern, not contempt for any person: selling what should be given freely poisons the singer and even, he says, his lineage. The verse is a warning to examine whether devotion is being kept pure or quietly turned into income.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
More in this theme →