Metaphor, water that serves all alike
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न ह्मणे साना थोर । दृष्ट पापी अथवा चोर ॥1॥
सकळा द्यावी एकी चवी । तान हरूनि निववी ॥ध्रु.॥
न ह्मणे दिवस राती । सर्व काल सर्वां भूतीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे झारी । घेतां तांब्यानें खापरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Water does not distinguish between small and great, the sinful or the thief. It gives one taste to all and quenches their thirst, cooling everyone alike. It knows no day or night; it serves all beings at all times. Says Tuka, whether taken in a jug, a copper vessel, or a broken pot, water serves the same.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Water does not call one small and another great, nor judge the wicked or the thief. It gives a single taste to all, taking away their thirst and cooling them. It does not ask if it is day or night; it serves all beings at every hour. Tuka says: whether you draw it in a jug, a copper pot, or a broken shard, the water is the same.
What it means
Tukaram holds up water as the model of the saint's even compassion. It makes no distinction between high and low, righteous and criminal; it gives the same quenching taste to everyone and serves at all times without preference. The vessel does not change the gift: a fine copper pot and a broken potsherd both receive the same water. The implied teaching is that grace, and the heart of one who carries it, should be impartial in just this way, meeting every being according to their thirst rather than their worth.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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