Social criticism, the inconstant base man
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गाढवाचें तानें । पालटलें क्षणक्षणें ॥1॥
तैसे अधमाचे गुण । एकविध नाहीं मन ॥ध्रु.॥
उपजतां बरें दिसे । रूप वाढतां तें नासे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भुंकते वेळे । वेळ अवेळ न कळे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The braying of a donkey shifts and changes moment to moment. Such are the qualities of the base: the mind is never of one kind. At birth it appears good; as the form grows, that goodness is destroyed. Says Tuka, when it barks, it knows not the right time from the wrong.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A donkey's braying shifts and changes moment to moment. So are the traits of the base man: his mind is never of one kind. At birth he looks fine; as he grows up, that goodness is ruined. Tuka says: when he barks, he does not know right time from wrong.
What it means
Tukaram measures the base character by its inconstancy. Like a donkey's braying that lurches from one pitch to another, such a person's mind never holds a single shape; you cannot trust it from one moment to the next. The promise that showed at birth gets spoiled as the person grows. And like a dog that barks heedless of the hour, this kind of person speaks and lashes out with no sense of fitness or timing. The point is to recognize this driftiness, in others and in oneself, not to despise a man.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
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