Satire on idle devotees, the ruined household
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न करवे धंदा । आइता तोंडीं पडे लोंदा ॥१॥
उठितें तें कुटितें टाळ । अवघा मांडिला कोल्हाळ ॥ध्रु.॥
जिवंत चि मेले । लाजा वाटुनियां प्याले ॥२॥
संसाराकडे । न पाहाती ओस पडे ॥३॥
तळमळती यांच्या रांडा । घालिती जीवा नांवें धोंडा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे बरें जालें । घे गे बाइले लीहिलें ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He will not do any work; lumps of food just fall into his mouth. Whatever rises up, he turns it into the clapping of cymbals; the whole place is in an uproar. These people are as good as dead while still alive, distributing shame like a feast and drinking it down. They do not even glance at their household, which lies in ruin. Their wives writhe in agony and curse their fate. Says Tuka, well then so be it; take it, O wife, as what was written in your destiny.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He will not do any work; lumps of food just fall ready into his mouth. Whatever comes up, he turns into the clapping of cymbals; the whole place is an uproar. These men are dead while still alive; they hand out shame like a feast and drink it down. They never glance at the household, and it falls to ruin. Their wives writhe in agony and curse their fate. Tuka says: well, so be it; take it, O wife, as what was written for you.
What it means
Here Tukaram turns satirical and points it at a pattern, not at any single man. He sketches those who use the look of devotion as a cover for idleness: living off ready food, raising noise with cymbals, leaving the family to fall apart while the wives suffer. He calls such men dead while alive. The poem is a warning against devotion that is only performance and shirking dressed up as worship. The closing line, half resigned, hands the consequence over as fate, leaving the reader to examine whether their own piety carries its weight or merely escapes it.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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