Exhortation, religion for the ego
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तीळ जाळिले तांदुळ । काम क्रोधे तैसे चि खळ ॥१॥
कां रे सिणलासी वाउगा । न भजतां पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
मानदंभासाठीं । केली अक्षरांची आटी ॥२॥
तप करूनि तीर्थाटन । वाढविला अभिमान ॥३॥
वांटिलें तें धन । केली अहंता जतन ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे चुकलें वर्म । केला अवघा चि अधर्म ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Sesame and rice are scorched; by lust and anger, just so, the wicked are ruined. Why do you exhaust yourself in vain, not worshipping Panduranga? For the sake of pride and pretense you toiled over letters and learning. You performed austerities and pilgrimages, but only swelled your self-importance. You gave away wealth, yet carefully nurtured your ego-sense. Says Tuka, you have missed the crux entirely; all you have done is adharma.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Sesame and rice can be scorched in the roasting; lust and anger scorch the foolish in just the same way. Why wear yourself out for nothing, never worshipping Panduranga? For the sake of pride and show you slaved over learning and letters. You did austerities and made pilgrimages, and only swelled your self-importance. You gave wealth away, and carefully nursed your ego the whole time. Tuka says: you have missed the crux entirely, and turned all of it into adharma.
What it means
Tukaram attacks religion practiced for the ego. Learning, austerity, pilgrimage, even charity, all the things that look pious, become worthless, even adharma, when they are done to feed pride and self-importance rather than to love God. The roasted grain is his image: lust and anger burn the foolish the way fire scorches sesame and rice. The sharp point is that effort itself is not enough; effort aimed at the self only enlarges the self. To miss God in the middle of all that religious labor is to miss the entire crux, and to turn worship into its opposite.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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