Metaphor, surrender and the cost of craving
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
इच्छा चाड नाहीं । न धरी संकोच ही कांहीं ॥1॥
उदका नेलें तिकडे जावें । केलें तैसें सहज व्हावें ॥ध्रु.॥
मोहरी कांदा ऊंस । एक वाफा भिन्न रस ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सुख । पीडा इच्छा पावे दुःख ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Water has no desire or preference; it holds no reluctance. Wherever it is led, it goes; it naturally becomes what is made of it. Mustard, onion, and sugarcane share the same moisture yet yield different juices. Says Tuka, happiness comes to those free of craving; desire brings only suffering.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Water has no wishes of its own and no demands; it holds back nothing in reluctance. Wherever it is led it goes; it becomes, without resistance, whatever it is made into. Mustard, onion, and sugarcane drink from one watered bed, yet each yields its own juice. Tuka says: happiness comes where there is no craving; desire reaches only suffering.
What it means
Tukaram makes water the image of perfect surrender. It claims nothing, refuses nothing, and flows wherever it is directed, taking the shape given to it. The same water feeds mustard, onion, and sugarcane in one bed, yet each plant turns it into its own flavor, so the one undemanding gift becomes many things through those who receive it. The closing line names the stake plainly: peace belongs to the one who, like water, holds no craving, while desire, the insistence on a particular outcome, leads only to suffering.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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