Social criticism, words without deeds
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कलियुगीं कवित्व करिती पाषांड । कुशळ हे भांड बहु जाले ॥1॥
द्रव्य दारा चित्तीं प्रजांची आवडी । मुखें बडबडी कोरडा चि ॥ध्रु.॥
डंव करी सोंग मानावया जग । मुखें बोले त्याग मनीं नाहीं ॥2॥
वेदाज्ञो करोनि न करिती स्वहित । नव्हती अलिप्त देहाहुनी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे दंड साहील यमाचे । न करी जो वाचे बोले तैसें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In this Kali Yuga, poets compose works of hypocrisy. These skilled buffoons have multiplied greatly. Their minds are set on wealth, women, and worldly desire, while their mouths rattle on with empty words. They put on a show of pretense to impress the world. They speak of renunciation, but it is not in their chitta. They invoke the authority of the Vedas yet do not pursue their own salvation. They are not free from attachment to the body. Says Tuka, the one whose actions do not match his words will bear the rod of Yama.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In this Kali age, poets make verses of hypocrisy; these clever clowns have multiplied. Their minds are fixed on money, women, and worldly wants, while their mouths rattle on, dry and empty. They put on a show to impress the world; they speak of renunciation, but it is not in their hearts. They quote the Vedas yet do nothing for their own good, and they are not free from the body. Tuka says: the one whose deeds do not match his words will bear the rod of Yama.
What it means
Tukaram attacks the gap between sacred talk and actual life. He sees a crowd of skilled performers who dress up greed for wealth, sex, and status in pious verse, and whose fine words are hollow because nothing inside answers to them. They preach detachment they do not feel and cite scripture without ever using it to save themselves, still bound fast to the body they claim to have left. The warning lands on the pattern itself: when speech and deed split apart, the punishment of Yama is what waits, and the test he sets is one any of us can turn on our own talk.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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