Social criticism, contempt for a debased cult
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
शाक्तांची शूकरी माय । विष्ठा खाय बिदीची ॥1॥
तिची त्या पडली सवे । मागें धांवें ह्मणोनि ॥ध्रु.॥
शाक्तांची गाढवी माय । भुंकत जाय वेसदारा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे शिंदळीचे । बोलतां वाचे निंद्य ते ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The mother-goddess of the Shaktas is a sow that eats filth from the streets. Her followers have fallen into her habits and chase after her. The mother-goddess of the Shaktas is a she-donkey, braying at every village gate. Says Tuka, to speak of such disgraceful things even with one's voice is shameful.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The mother-goddess these people worship is a sow that eats filth in the streets. They have fallen into her ways and run after her. Their mother-goddess is a she-donkey, braying at every village gate. Tuka says: even to speak such disgraceful things aloud is shameful.
What it means
This is Tukaram at his most savage, mocking a degraded cult by likening its goddess to a sow eating street filth and a braying she-donkey, and saying the followers have sunk into those same habits. The fury is aimed at a worship he sees as feeding on filth and noise rather than truth. He turns the blade on himself at the end, admitting that merely saying such things aloud is itself shameful, as if disgusted that the subject forces such words from his mouth. The point is not contempt for any person but horror at a practice that drags devotion down to the lowest appetites. The self-examination is built into the closing line: even naming the degradation is a stain one would rather not carry.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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