Social criticism, the warned-of age
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मागें संतीं होतें जें जें सांगितलें । तें येऊं लागलें अनुभवा ॥1॥
आचारभ्रष्ट होती लोक कळी । पुण्य क्षीण बळी जालें पाप ॥ध्रु.॥
वर्णधर्म कोण न धरी विटाळ । घालिती गोंधळ एके ठायीं ॥2॥
वेदाचे पाठक सेवितील मद्य । न देखती भेद विषयीं भांड ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे किती करावे फजित । ते चि छंद नित्य बहु होती ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What the saints had warned of long ago is now coming to pass in our experience. People have become corrupt in conduct. Merit has dwindled; sin has grown mighty in force. No one observes the purity of caste-duties or holds to any sense of defilement. They all jumble together in one heap. Those who recite the Vedas drink liquor. They see no distinction and fight over sensual things like brazen scoundrels. Says Tuka, how much of this disgrace should I recount? These very cravings keep multiplying day by day.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whatever the saints warned of long ago is now coming true in front of us. People have grown corrupt in conduct; this is the Kali age. Merit has worn thin, and sin has grown strong. No one keeps the duties of his order or holds to any sense of purity; they all jumble together in one heap. Those who recite the Vedas drink liquor. They see no line they will not cross, and they brawl over their appetites like shameless men. Tuka says: how much of this disgrace should I keep counting? These same cravings only multiply by the day.
What it means
Tukaram says the decay the old saints predicted is now visible everywhere in the age of Kali. Right conduct has collapsed, good has weakened, and wrongdoing has gained the upper hand. People no longer keep the discipline of their station or any sense of what defiles, and even those who chant the Vedas drink and quarrel over their appetites without restraint. He breaks off the list because the catalogue of disgrace would never end, since the cravings driving it keep growing. The verse is a lament over a pattern of self-indulgence loosed from all limits, naming the sickness of the time rather than condemning any one person.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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