Riddle, the taste known only by tasting
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवें देऊळ सेविलें । उदक कोरडें चि ठेविलें ॥1॥
नव्हे मत गूढ उमानें कांहीं । तूं आपणआपणापें पाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
पाठें पूर वोसंडला । सरिता सागर तुंबोनि ठेला ॥2॥
वांजेघरीं बाळ तान्हा । एक बाळी दों कानां ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे पैस । अनुभविया ठावा गोडीरस ॥4॥
॥ लोहागांवीं कीर्तनांत मेलें मूल जीत झालें ते समयीं स्वामींनीं अभंग केले ते ॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God Himself has taken up residence in the temple, yet the water within remains dry. This is no secret to be guessed at; look within yourself. Behind, the flood has surged and overflowed, filling the rivers and the sea. In the barren woman's home, a newborn cries, and one earring hangs from two ears. Says Tuka, this sweetness of inner taste is known only to the one who has experienced it.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God himself has come to live in the temple, yet the water there stays dry. This is no hidden thing you must guess at. Look within your own self. Behind, the flood has burst and overflowed; the rivers and the sea stand brimful. In the barren woman's house a newborn baby cries. One earring hangs from two ears. Tuka says: this is the wide open secret. The sweetness of the inner taste is known only to the one who has tasted it.
What it means
Tukaram is stacking up impossible images on purpose: a temple where God lives but the water is dry, a flood that fills the sea from behind, a child born to a barren woman, one earring on two ears. He is not posing puzzles to be solved by cleverness; he says plainly that there is nothing hidden here. The point is that the inner reality cannot be reached by guessing or argument; you have to turn and look within yourself. The contradictions break the grip of ordinary logic so that the real thing can be seen directly. And what is seen is a taste, not a theory: only the one who has actually experienced this sweetness knows what it is.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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