The mother's heart, love without return
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लेंकराचें हित । वाहे माउलीचें चित्त ॥1॥
ऐसी कळवळ्याची जाती । करी लाभेंविण प्रीती ॥ध्रु.॥
पोटीं भार वाहे। त्याचें सर्वस्व ही साहे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझें । तैसे तुह्मां संतां ओझें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A mother's chitta is always occupied with the welfare of her child. Such is the nature of true tenderness: it loves without any expectation of return. She carries the burden in her womb and endures everything the child brings. Says Tuka, O saints, you bear the same weight on my behalf.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A mother's heart is always set on her child's good. This is the way of true tenderness: it loves and wants nothing back. She carries the weight in her womb. She bears everything the child brings. Tuka says: O saints, you carry the same weight for me.
What it means
Tukaram defines real love by what it does not ask for. A mother's attention rests on her child's welfare, and she loves without any thought of return, carrying the child first in her womb and then bearing whatever the child puts on her. He calls this the very nature of tenderness, not a transaction. Then he lays his own life on the saints, saying they carry his burden in exactly this unrewarded, self-spending way.
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