Social criticism, devotion turned to license
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
शाक्त गधडा जये देशीं । तेथें राशी पापाच्या ॥1॥
सुकृताचा उदो केला । गोंधळ घाला इंिद्रयें ॥ध्रु.॥
क्रोधरूपें वसे काम । तीचें नाम जपतसे ॥2॥
मद्यभक्षण मांगिण जाती । विटाळ चित्तीं सांटविला ॥3॥
स्तवुनियां पूजी रांड । न लजे भांड दाढीसी ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे भगवती । नेइल अंतीं आपणापें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In the land where a Shakta donkey holds sway, heaps of sin abound. He proclaims the merit of his practice while the senses run riot in revelry. Lust dwells there in the guise of anger, and he chants the name of the goddess. He eats meat and drinks liquor, belonging to the lowest ways, and stores defilement in his heart. He worships and praises a wanton spirit and feels no shame, even with his graying beard. Says Tuka, his goddess-worship will lead him straight to her own abode of ruin.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In the land where such a man holds sway, sin piles up in heaps. He announces the merit of his practice, while the senses run riot. Lust lives there dressed up as anger, and he chants the name of the goddess. He eats meat and drinks liquor, keeping to the lowest ways, and stores up defilement in his heart. He worships and praises a corrupt spirit and feels no shame, even with a graying beard. Tuka says: this worship will carry him off at the end to its own place of ruin.
What it means
Tukaram is attacking a religion that uses the name of the divine to license appetite. The man claims spiritual merit while his senses run wild; lust hides behind ritual, and meat and drink are called worship. The sharp line is that he keeps doing this without shame even into old age, the gray beard that should have brought sobriety. Tukaram's warning is that worship shaped to feed craving leads only to the ruin it serves, not to release. The pattern to examine is the use of holy words as cover for indulgence; the name of God does not sanctify what the heart is actually chasing.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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