The child and the mother, trust beyond discernment
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
धांवे माते सोई । बाळ न विचारितां कांहीं ॥1॥
मग त्याचें जाणें निकें । अंग वोडवी कौतुकें ॥ध्रु.॥
नेणे सर्प दोरी । अगी भलतें हातीं धरी ॥2॥
तीविन तें नेणें । आणीक कांहीं तुका ह्मणे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A child runs toward its mother without a second thought. Its going is perfectly right; it stretches its body forward with innocent delight. It does not distinguish between a snake and a rope; it reaches for fire and grabs whatever is at hand. Says Tuka, without the mother, the child knows nothing else at all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A child runs to its mother without a second thought. Its running is right. It stretches its body toward her with delight. The child does not know a snake from a rope. It reaches for fire and grabs whatever is near. Tuka says: without the mother, the child knows nothing else at all.
What it means
Tukaram draws the soul as a small child and God as the mother. The child's run is reckless and yet perfectly right, because its trust is total and unthinking. It cannot tell a snake from a rope or fire from a toy; it has no discernment of its own to protect it. That is precisely the point: the child is safe not through its own knowledge but because it knows nothing except the mother. The poem praises a surrender so complete that the devotee leans on God alone and not on private judgment.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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