Metaphor, nature shows its kind
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विष पोटीं सर्वा । जन भीतें तया दर्पा ॥1॥
पंच भूतें नाहीं भिन्न । गुण दुःख देती शीण ॥ध्रु.॥
चंदन िप्रय वासें । आवडे तें जातीऐसें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दाणा । कुचर मिळों नये अन्ना॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A serpent carries poison within, and all creatures fear its menace. The five elements are not separate from one another; their interplay brings suffering and weariness. Sandalwood is beloved for its fragrance; it gives according to its nature. Says Tuka, a bitter seed should never be mixed in with good grain.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A serpent carries poison inside, and everyone fears its menace. The five elements are not separate from each other; their qualities give pain and weariness. Sandalwood is loved for its scent; each thing gives according to its nature. Tuka says: a bitter, spoiled seed should never be mixed into good grain.
What it means
Tukaram reads character through the things of nature. As the snake holds poison and the sandal holds fragrance, each creature gives out only what its nature contains, for good or ill. The interplay of the elements that makes up a person likewise yields its own qualities, and with them its own measure of pain. The closing image carries the warning: a single bitter, rotten seed should not be mixed into sound grain, because it spoils the whole. He is pointing at the way one corrupt element, in a person or a company, taints everything around it.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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