Metaphor, exchanged into God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
घोंगडियांचा पालट केला । मुलांमुलां आपुल्यांत ॥1॥
कान्होबा तो मी च दिसें । लाविलें पिसें संवगडियां ॥ध्रु.॥
तो बोले मी उगाच बैसें । आनारिसें न दिसे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दिलें सोंग । नेदी वेंग जाऊं देऊं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The blankets were exchanged among the children, among their own. Kanhoba is who I now appear to be. He has set this madness among His companions. He speaks; I sit silent. No difference is seen between us. Says Tuka, He has given me His guise and leaves no gap for parting.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The blankets were swapped among the children, among their own. Kanhoba is the one I now seem to be. He set this madness loose among His playmates. He speaks; I just sit silent. No difference can be seen between us. Tuka says: He has given me His own guise, and leaves no gap for us to part.
What it means
Tukaram uses a children's game to tell of his union with Krishna. In the play, the boys trade blankets among themselves, and in the exchange Tukaram now looks like Kanhoba, the cowherd Krishna, himself. The Lord is the one who started this sweet madness among His companions. So complete is the swap that when He speaks Tukaram can stay silent, and no one can tell the two apart. The point is that the devotee has taken on God's own form, and God has joined them so closely that there is no longer any seam where they could be separated.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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