Metaphor, the soldier wholly the Master's
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पाईक तो प्रजा राखोनियां कुळ । पारखिया मूळ छेदी दुष्टा ॥1॥
तो एक पाईक पाइकां नाईक । भाव सकळीक स्वामिकाजीं ॥ध्रु.॥
तृणवत तनु सोनें ज्या पाषाण । पाइका त्या भिन्न नाहीं स्वामी ॥2॥
विश्वासावांचूनि पाइकासी मोल । नाहीं मिथ्या बोल बोलिलिया ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे नये स्वामी उणेपण । पाइका जतन करी त्यासी ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A true paik guards the people and their lineage, and cuts the outsider at the root, destroying the wicked. That one supreme paik is the leader of all paiks, whose entire bhav is for the Master's work alone. For one to whom the body is as grass and gold is as stone, there is no separation between that paik and the Swami. Without trust, a paik has no value at all; words spoken falsely are mithya, they are nothing. Says Tuka, the Master should never be diminished. The paik who tends to the Master, the Master tends to in return.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A true paik guards the people and their lineage, and cuts the outsider at the root, destroying the wicked. That one supreme paik is the leader of all paiks, whose whole heart is for the Master's work alone. For one to whom the body is grass and gold is stone, there is no separation between that paik and the Master. Without trust a paik has no value at all. Words spoken falsely are mithya, they are nothing. Tuka says: the Master should never be diminished. The paik who tends the Master, the Master tends in return.
What it means
Tukaram describes the ideal servant: he protects his people and their line and cuts evil off at the root. The supreme paik, leader of all the rest, is the one whose entire heart is given to the Master's work alone. For such a one, the body counts as grass and gold as mere stone, and so no distance remains between him and his Lord. Trust is everything: without it the servant is worthless, and false words are mithya, empty and unreal. The closing promise is mutual: never let the Master be diminished, for the servant who cares for the Master is cared for by the Master in return. It is a portrait of devotion that holds nothing back and is answered in kind.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
More in this theme →