Metaphor, sift grain from grit
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गहूं एकजाती । परी त्या पाधाणी नासिती ॥१॥
वर्म जाणावें तें सार । कोठें काय थोडें फार ॥ध्रु.॥
कमाईच्या सारें । जाति दाविती प्रकार ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मोल । गुणा मिथ्या फिके बोल ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Wheat is of one kind, yet stones mixed in ruin it. Know the essential secret and discern where the impurity lies, however small. By the quality of one's spiritual earnings, the whole harvest is judged. Says Tuka, sift carefully; the pure and impure must be separated.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Wheat is all one kind, yet the stones mixed in spoil it. Know the essential secret: see where the flaw lies, however small, and how much there is. By the quality of what one has earned, the whole grade is shown. Tuka says: it is worth that counts; false talk is flat and tasteless.
What it means
Tukaram uses the threshing floor to talk about the inner life. Good wheat is ruined not by being a poor grain but by the grit mixed into it, so the secret is to find the flaw, however small, and measure it honestly. A person is graded by the real quality of what they have earned within, not by appearances. The closing line states the standard plainly: genuine worth is what counts, and hollow, boastful words are stale and have no taste.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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