Testing the ranks, the few who are brave
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उंच निंच कैसी पाइकाची वोळी । कोण गांढे बळी निवडिले ॥1॥
स्वामिकाजीं एक सर्वस्वें तत्पर । एक ते कुचर आशाबद्ध ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रसंगावांचूनि आणिती आयुर्भाव । पाईक तो नांव मिरवी वांयां ॥2॥
गणतीचे एक उंच निंच फार । तयांमध्यें शूर विरळा थोडे ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे स्वामी जाणे त्यांचा मान । पाईक पाहोन मोल करी ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Among the paik's file, some stand high and some stand low. Who is truly brave, and who is a coward? Some are utterly devoted to the Master's cause with their whole being. Others are crooked, bound by selfish hope. Without a true crisis, some parade their vigor in vain. They wear the paik's name to no purpose. Among the many counted in the ranks, high and low, the truly courageous are very few. Says Tuka, the Master knows their worth. Seeing each paik, He sets the proper value.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In the soldier's file, some stand high and some stand low. Who is truly brave, and who is the coward? Some give themselves wholly to their master's cause. Others are crooked, bound by their own hope of gain. Some, with no real crisis, parade their strength for nothing; they wear the soldier's name in vain. In the count there are many, high and low, but among them the brave are very few. Tuka says: the master knows their worth. Seeing each soldier, he sets the proper price.
What it means
Tukaram looks down the ranks of those who claim to serve God and asks who is real. Some are devoted with their whole being; others are crooked, held by private hope of reward; and some only put on a show of vigor when nothing is at stake, wearing the name without the substance. The point is that the crowd is large but the genuinely brave are rare, and a parade of zeal in safe times proves nothing. The reassurance and the warning together: the master is not fooled. He sees each one for what he is and sets his value accordingly, so the verdict that matters is his, not the soldier's own boast.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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