Metaphor, the mutual longing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करितां तडातोडी । वत्सा माते सोई ओढी ॥1॥
करित्याचा आग्रह उरे । एक एकासाटीं झुरे ॥ध्रु.॥
भुके इच्छी अन्न। तें ही त्यासाटीं निर्माण ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जाती । एक एकाचिये चित्तीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Try as you may to part them, the calf is drawn toward its mother. The longing of the seeker endures; each one yearns for the other. When hunger craves food, food itself is created for that very purpose. Says Tuka, each dwells in the chitta of the other.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
However hard you try to pull them apart, the calf is drawn back to its mother. The longing of the one who seeks does not end; each pines for the other. When hunger craves food, food itself is made for that very purpose. Tuka says: each one lives in the other's heart.
What it means
Tukaram pictures the bond between the soul and God as a longing that runs both ways. Try as you might to separate them, the calf turns back to its mother; the seeker's yearning never wears out, and the two ache for each other. He adds a striking claim: when hunger arises, the food it craves was itself created for that hunger, so the wanting and its fulfillment are made for one another. The closing line lands it: the devotee and the Lord each dwell in the heart of the other, so the pull is never one-sided.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
More in this theme →