Metaphor, clean the mirror of the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
घटीं बिंबलें बिंब हें ठायिठायीं । तया संगती नासु हा त्यासि नाहीं ॥1॥
तन वाटितां क्षीर हें होत नाहीं । पशू भिक्षतां पालटे तें चि देहीं ।
तया वर्म तो जाणता एक आहे । असे व्यापक व्यापुनी अंतर्बाहे ॥2॥
फळ कदनळीं सेवटीं येत आहे । असे शोधितां पोकळीमाजि काये ।
धीर नाहीं त्यें वाउगें धीग जालें । फळ पुष्पना यत्न व्यर्थ गेले ॥3॥
असे नाम हें दर्पणें सिद्ध केलें। असे बिंब तें या मळा आहे ठेलें ।
कैसें शुद्ध नाहीं दिसे माजिरूप। नका वाढवूं सीण हा पुण्यपाप ॥4॥
करा वर्म ठावें नका सोंग वांयां। तुका वीनवीतो पडों काय पायां ।
तुज पुत्र दारा धन वासना हे । मग ऊरलें शेवटीं काय पाहें ॥5॥
मना सांडिं हे वासना दुष्ट खोडी । मती मानसीं एक हे व्यर्थ गोडी ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The sun reflects in every pot, yet it is never diminished by their breaking. Though the body is distributed, the essence is not lessened. An animal grazes and what it eats transforms within that very body. Only the One who knows the secret truly exists, pervading everything inside and out. The fruit of the plantain comes only at the very end. If you search within, you find only hollow emptiness. Those without patience lose heart in vain; their efforts toward fruit and flower come to nothing. The Name is like a mirror made ready: the reflection is there, but a film of dirt clings to it. How can the inner form appear when the surface is not clean? Do not increase the torment of merit and sin. Know the secret and stop this empty show. Says Tuka, what more can I say? Must I fall at your feet? Your children, spouse, wealth, and desires: when these are gone, what remains at the end? O mind, abandon this wicked, stubborn habit. This longing for worldly sweetness in the buddhi and mind is utterly vain.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The sun is reflected in every pot, here and there, yet breaking the pots does not destroy it. Though the body is shared out, the essence is not lessened. An animal grazes, and what it eats is changed within that same body. Only the One who knows the secret truly exists, filling everything inside and out. The plantain's fruit comes only at the very end; search within and you find only hollow emptiness. Those without patience lose heart for nothing, and their striving for fruit and flower goes to waste. The Name is like a mirror made ready: the reflection is there, but a film of dirt clings to it. How can the inner form show when the surface is not clean? Do not pile up the torment of merit and sin. Know the secret; stop the empty show. Tuka says: what more can I say, must I fall at your feet? Children, wife, wealth, desire are yours; when these are gone, what is left at the end? See it. O mind, give up this wicked, stubborn habit; this longing for worldly sweetness in the mind is in vain.
What it means
Tukaram strings together images to teach that the one Self is everywhere undivided and that the only work is to clean what hides it. The sun in many pots, unbroken when the pots break, says the essence is not lost when bodies pass; the plantain that fruits only at the end warns against impatience. His central figure is the Name as a mirror already prepared: the divine reflection is present, but a film of dirt, the chase after merit and sin and worldly sweetness, keeps the inner form from showing. He grows almost blunt, asking the mind to drop its stubborn habit and stop the empty show. The closing question is the sharp edge: children, wife, wealth, and desire all belong to God and fall away, so what will be left at the end if not the Self the mirror was meant to reveal?
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
More in this theme →