Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
द्रव्य असतां धर्म न करी । नागविला राजद्वारीं ॥१॥
माय त्यासि व्याली जेव्हां । रांड सटवी नव्हती तेव्हां ॥ध्रु.॥.
कथाकाळीं निद्रा लागे । कामीं श्वानापरी जागे ॥२॥
भोग स्त्रियेसि देतां लाजे । वस्त्र दासीचें घेउनि निजे ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे जाण । नर गाढवाहुनी हीन ॥४॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A man who has wealth but gives nothing to charity ends up stripped bare at the king's court. When his mother gave birth to him, there were no witches or sorceresses present to curse him; he cursed himself by his own greed. He sleeps through the hour of sacred recitation, yet stays awake for lust like a prowling dog. He is ashamed to share pleasures with his own wife, yet steals the maidservant's cloth to sleep with. Says Tuka, know that such a man is lower than a donkey.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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