Metaphor, catching the divine thief
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कोंडिला गे माज । निरोधुनी द्वार । राखण तें बरें । येथें करा कारण ॥1॥
हा गे हा गे हरि । करितां सांपडला चोरी । घाला गांठी धरी । जीवें माय त्रासाया ॥ध्रु.॥
तें चि पुढें आड । तिचा लोभ तिला नाड । लावुनी चरफड । हात गोउनी पळावें॥2॥
संशयाचें बिहडें । याचे निरसले भेटी । घेतली ते तुटी । आतां घेतां फावेल ॥3॥
तुका येतो काकुलती । वाउगिया सोड । यासी चि निवाड । आह्मी भार वाहिका ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The pride has been cornered; the door has been blocked. Post a guard here and do what must be done. Hari has been caught stealing; seize Him and hold Him tight, for He has come to torment the very jiva. That which was placed before as bait has become a snare for the one who craved it; tie it up and quietly slip away. The fortress of doubt has been breached through His meeting; now that the bond is broken, seize whatever you can. Says Tuka, coming humbly in supplication: release these false bonds. We have surrendered our burden entirely.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The pride is cornered. The door is blocked. Set a good guard here; do what must be done. Here, here is Hari. He was caught in the act of stealing. Throw him down, seize him by the knot, so the jiva torments him no more. What was put out as bait has become a snare for the one who craved it; tie up his hands and slip away. The fortress of doubt is broken open by His meeting. The bond is cut; now seize whatever you can. Tuka says, coming humbly: let the false bonds go. We have laid down our whole burden.
What it means
Tukaram turns the soul's struggle into a chase, with God playing both the cornered thief and the prize. Pride is trapped behind a blocked door, and Hari is caught in the act, to be seized by the knot and held fast. The twist is that the very world that was set out as bait to trap the soul has become the snare that catches the trapper, once God is held. The fortress of doubt falls open in the meeting with God, the bond breaks, and the instruction is to grab the moment while it lasts. He ends in surrender: drop the false ties, the whole burden is now laid on God.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
More in this theme →