Metaphor, wealth does the work
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
धनवंता घरीं । करी धन चि चाकरी ॥1॥
होय बैसल्या व्यापार । न लगे सांडावें चि घर ॥ध्रु.॥
रानीं वनीं दीपीं । असतीं तीं होतीं सोपीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मोल । देतां कांहीं नव्हे खोल ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In the home of the wealthy, wealth itself serves as the servant. All trade happens while sitting at ease; one need not even leave the house. What is found in forests, islands, and remote places all becomes easily accessible. Says Tuka, when you offer the right price, nothing remains beyond reach.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In the rich man's house, the wealth itself does the work. The trade happens while he sits; he does not even have to leave his home. What lies in forests, in wild places, on far islands becomes easy to reach. Tuka says: when you pay the price, nothing stays out of reach.
What it means
Tukaram uses the picture of a rich household to teach how devotion works. For the wealthy man, money is itself the servant: business gets done while he sits at ease, and he never has to leave the house. Things that are otherwise far off, hidden in forests or on distant islands, come to him without trouble. The hidden meaning lands in the last line: the true wealth is devotion, and once you pay its price nothing remains beyond your reach, so God and his gifts come to the one who has it without straining after them.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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