Social criticism, the wicked guest
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नावडे तरि कां येतील हे भांड । घेउनियां तोंड काळें येथें ॥1॥
नासोनियां जाय रस यासंगती । खळाचे पंगती नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥
तोंडावाटा नर्क काढी अमंगळ । मिष्टान्ना विटाळ करी सुनें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाहीं संतांची मर्यादा । निंदे तो चि निंदा मायझवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If they do not like it, why do these quarrelsome ones come here with darkened faces? In their company, all sweetness is destroyed. O Narayana, at the table of the wicked, all is spoiled. A dog fouls delicacies from its mouth; it contaminates fine food with its filth. Says Tuka, the one who does not respect the honor of the saints, his own slander becomes his greatest shame.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If they do not like it, why do these quarrelers come here with their faces gone black? In their company all the sweetness is ruined. O Narayana, at the table of the wicked everything is spoiled. A dog drags foul filth out of its mouth; it defiles fine food. Tuka says: the one who keeps no respect for the saints, his own slander turns back as his shame.
What it means
Tukaram is describing what one bitter, contemptuous person does to a gathering. The quarreler arrives unwilling, dark-faced, and his presence sours the whole table, the way a dog fouls good food it has touched. The frame the poem leaves unspoken is that the table here is the company of the saints and the sweetness is satsang itself. Tukaram names the real cost: the slanderer who shows no reverence for holy people does not bring them down, he only fouls what he eats and brings disgrace back on himself. The warning is for the listener to examine his own scorn before he carries it into good company.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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