Social criticism, where defilement lives
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
महारासि सिवे । कोपे ब्राम्हण तो नव्हे ॥१॥
तया प्रायश्चित्त कांहीं । देहत्याग करितां नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नातळे चांडाळ । त्याचा अंतरीं विटाळ ॥२॥
ज्याचा संग चित्तीं । तुका म्हणे तो त्या याती ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A Brahmin who rages at the touch of a Mahar is no Brahmin at all. For that, no atonement exists, not even giving up the body. He will not touch one the world despises, yet the defilement lives inside him. Tuka says: whoever you keep company with in consciousness, you belong to that jati.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A Brahmin who flares up in anger when a Mahar touches him is no Brahmin at all. For that fault there is no atonement, not even by giving up his life. He will not touch the one the world calls untouchable, yet the real defilement is sitting inside him. Tuka says: whatever you keep company with in your heart, that is the caste you truly belong to.
What it means
One of Tukaram's most direct attacks on caste pride. He grants the Brahmin his rank and then dismantles it: the man who reacts with rage and disgust at a Mahar's touch has, by that very rage, forfeited his Brahminhood, and no penance can buy it back. The twist is the relocation of defilement. The pollution is not in the body of the so-called untouchable but in the heart of the one full of contempt. And the closing rule reaches everyone: your real caste is set by what your heart keeps company with, not by your birth.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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