The mother's love, devotion that draws no offense
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बाळ माते लाते वरी । मारी तेणें संतोषे ॥1॥
सुख वसे चित्ता अंगीं । तें हें रंगीं मिळालें ॥ध्रु.॥
भक्षी त्याचा जीवमाग। आले भाग तो बरा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ॠणानुबंधें । सांगें सुदें सकळां॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A child kicks its mother, yet she is delighted by it. Joy dwells in the chitta and body; it has merged completely into the color of love. The mother feeds the child the very substance of her own life; whatever portion comes, she welcomes. Says Tuka, by the bonds of love spanning lifetimes, this happiness comes to all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The child kicks its mother, and that very kicking delights her. Joy lives in her heart and in her body; it has all merged into the one color of love. She feeds the child the very substance of her own life; whatever comes to her, she takes it as good. Tuka says: by the bonds of love that run across lifetimes, this happiness comes to everyone.
What it means
Tukaram uses the mother and her infant to show how love receives even rough treatment. The baby strikes her, yet she is only pleased, because love has dissolved all sense of injury into one feeling. So it is with God: He feeds the devotee from His own being and welcomes whatever the devotee gives, harsh or clumsy. The closing line widens it to all souls: the tie of love is older than this life, a bond carried across births, and that is why such happiness is offered to everyone.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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