Social criticism, the hollow preacher
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वरि बोला रस । कथी ज्ञान माजी फोस ॥1॥
ऐसे लटिके जे ठक । तयां येहे ना पर लोक ॥ध्रु.॥
परिस एक सांगे । अंगा धुळी हे न लगे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हाडें । कुतया लाविलें झगडें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Outwardly his speech drips with nectar, but inwardly his knowledge is hollow and empty. He talks of the touchstone's power, yet its dust never touches his own body. Such deceivers and frauds possess neither this world nor the next. Says Tuka, it is like a dog fighting over a bone.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
On the surface his talk drips like nectar. Inside, his teaching is hollow, all husk. Such liars and cheats own neither this world nor the next. He talks of the touchstone, but its dust never touches his own body. Tuka says: it is like a dog scrapping over a dry bone.
What it means
Tukaram aims at the gap between fine speech and an empty heart. The man's words are sweet on the outside, but inside the teaching is dry husk with no grain, and pretty talk alone wins nothing. He praises the touchstone that turns iron to gold, yet not even its dust touches him; he speaks of transformation he has never let happen in himself. The warning is to watch for this pattern in oneself, not just in a preacher: such empty cleverness gains neither this world nor the next, and the show of it is as fruitless as a dog gnawing a bare bone.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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