Social criticism, the warning that fails
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वारितां बळें धरितां हातीं । जुलुमें जाती नरकामधीं ॥1॥
रंडीदासाप्रति कांहीं । उपदेश तो ही चालेना ॥ध्रु.॥
जन्म केला वाताहात । थोर घात येठायीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पंढरीनाथा । तुझी कथा दूषीती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even when they are warned and restrained by force, they push their way stubbornly into hell. Like those given over to vice, no teaching or counsel will change their course. They have ruined their human birth; the greatest harm is done right here. Says Tuka, O Lord of Pandhari, they slander Your sacred story.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Even when they are warned, even when they are held back by force, they shove their way into hell anyway. For men given over to vice, no teaching, no counsel works. They have wasted their human birth; the great ruin is done right here. Tuka says: O Lord of Pandhari, they slander Your sacred story.
What it means
Tukaram describes people so set in their course that nothing reaches them. They are warned and even physically restrained, yet they force their way toward ruin; advice and teaching simply do not take. The tragedy he names is the waste of a human birth, the one chance squandered here and now, and the final injury is that they slander the Lord's own story while doing it. He says this turning to Vithoba, the Lord of Pandhari, as a lament. The poem holds up the hard limit of counsel: a person who refuses every warning cannot be saved by more words, and the loss is theirs to make.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
More in this theme →