Metaphor, wrong for the moment
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मांडवाच्या दारा । पुढें आणिला म्हातारा ॥१॥
म्हणे नवरी आणा रांड । जाळा नवर्याचें तोंड ॥ध्रु.॥
समय न कळे । काय उपयोगीं ये वेळे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे खरा । येथूनिया दूर करा ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
An old man was brought before the wedding canopy. He says, "Bring the whore! Burn the groom's face!" He does not know the occasion, or what serves this moment. Says Tuka, he is a genuine one, all right. Remove him from here.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
An old man was led up to the wedding canopy, and he blurts out, bring the whore, set fire to the bridegroom's face. He has no idea what the occasion is, or what is fitting to say at this moment. Tuka says: he is a real specimen, this one. Take him away from here.
What it means
A short, broad comedy about a man hopelessly out of step with the moment. Brought to a wedding, he shouts curses fit for nowhere, blind to where he is and what the hour calls for. Tukaram's eye is on the deeper failing: not knowing the samaya, the right thing for the right time. Wisdom is not only saying true things but saying the fitting thing in its proper place. The man who has lost that sense, however loud, only needs to be quietly removed. Behind the joke is a teaching about the discernment of the moment.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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