Single-minded pursuit, pay any price
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐसा कोणी नाहीं हें जया नावडे । कन्या पुत्र घोडे दारा धन ॥1॥
निंब घेतें रोगी कवणिया सुखें । हरावया दुःखें व्याधि पीडा ॥ध्रु.॥
काय पळे सुखें चोरा लागे पाठी । न घलावी काठी आड तया ॥2॥
जयाचें कारण तो चि जाणे करूं । नये कोणां वारूं आणिकासी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे तरी सांपडे निधान । द्यावा ओंवाळून जीव बळी ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Is there anyone who does not desire daughters, sons, horses, wife, and wealth? The sick person takes the bitter neem willingly, enduring its taste only to overcome disease and pain. Why would a thief flee with joy while being chased? One should not block the path of the one who pursues him. Only the one whose purpose it serves knows what must be done; no outsider should try to restrain him. Says Tuka, when a treasure is found, one should offer one's very life for it.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Is there anyone who does not want daughters, sons, horses, a wife, wealth? The sick man swallows the bitter neem; he takes it gladly, only to be rid of his disease and pain. Does a thief run away laughing when he is chased? Do not put a stick in the path of the one who hunts him. Only the one whose work it is knows how to do it; no outsider should try to stop another. Tuka says: if you would find the hidden treasure, offer up your very life for it.
What it means
Tukaram is naming what it costs to want God above all else. Everyone wants the things of the world; he does not deny the pull of them. But he sets beside that the sick man who chokes down bitter neem because he wants the cure more than he wants comfort, and the hunter who will not be turned aside from his pursuit. The one who knows the purpose lets nothing block him, and no bystander has the right to restrain him. The treasure is found only by the one ready to spend his whole life, his very self, to reach it.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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