Social criticism, corruption spreads to the land
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
राजा प्रजा द्वाड देश । शाक्त वास करिती तो ॥1॥
अधर्माचें उबड पीक । धर्म रंक त्या गांवीं ॥ध्रु.॥
न पिके भूमि कांपे भारें । मेघ वारें पीतील ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे अवघीं दुःखें । येती सुखें वस्तीसी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Where the king, the people, and the land are corrupt, that is where the Shakta cult makes its home. Unrighteousness grows there like a wild, uncontrolled crop, while true dharma is reduced to poverty. The earth cannot bear the weight and trembles; even the clouds and winds conspire to afflict. Says Tuka, all sorrows come to take up residence where such practices dwell.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Where the king, the people, and the land are all corrupt, that is where this cult settles in. Unrighteousness grows there like a wild, untended crop, and true dharma is left poor in that village. The earth cannot bear the weight and trembles; the clouds and the wind turn against it. Tuka says: all sorrows come gladly to take up residence there.
What it means
Tukaram widens the lens from a single hypocrite to a whole society. Where rulers, people, and land are corrupt together, a religion of license takes root, and wrongdoing spreads like a weed while real dharma is reduced to poverty. He pictures the consequences in the world itself: the earth trembling under the burden, the weather turning hostile, every kind of suffering moving in to stay. The poem is naming the cost of letting corruption become the public norm. The stake is that a society's moral state and its very wellbeing are tied together; sorrow comes to live where dharma has been starved out.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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