Metaphor, virtue cannot be hidden
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं लोपों येत गुण । वेधी आणीकें चंदन ॥1॥
न संगतां पडे ताळा । रूप दर्पणीं सकळां ॥ध्रु.॥
सारविलें वरी । आहाच तें क्षणभरी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वोहळें । सागराच्या ऐसें व्हावें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A virtue cannot be hidden; sandalwood perfumes all that comes near. Without being told, every face finds its match in the mirror. What is merely rubbed on the surface lasts only a moment. Says Tuka, a stream should strive to become like the ocean.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A virtue cannot be kept hidden; sandalwood scents everything that comes near it. Without a word, every face finds its match in the mirror. What is only smeared on the surface lasts a mere moment. Tuka says: a stream should become like the ocean.
What it means
Tukaram observes that real quality announces itself without effort, the way sandalwood lends its fragrance to whatever lies beside it. A mirror needs no instruction to return the exact image set before it; true nature simply shows. By contrast, anything merely applied on the outside, a borrowed or painted-on goodness, wears off in an instant. The closing line gives the aspiration: a small stream should not be content as a stream but should strive to become the ocean, an inner growth into vastness rather than a surface display.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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