Marketplace metaphor, the bargain is settled
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मां कांहीं आह्मां कांहीं । आतां नाहीं या बोलें॥1॥
मोल सांगा मोल सांगा । घेणें तिंहीं गा पुसावें ॥ध्रु.॥
कैसें घडे कैसें घडे । बडबड तुज मज ॥2॥
मुदलें साटी मुदलें साटी । लाभ पोटीं त्या च मधीं ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे साटवूं घरीं । आडल्या काळें पुसती तरी ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We have no claim, we have no claim, not any longer by these old terms. State the price, state the price; let the buyers inquire. How can there be, how can there be, any quarrel between You and me? The principal is pledged, the principal is pledged, and the profit lies within it. Says Tuka, I shall store it at home; if anyone asks in troubled times, I shall share it then.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Something for us, something for us, but now there is no claim left in these old words. State the price, state the price; let the buyers ask. How can it happen, how can it happen, that there be quarreling between you and me? The principal is pledged, the principal is pledged, and the profit lies inside it. Tuka says: I will store it at home; if anyone asks in hard times, I will share it then.
What it means
Tukaram returns to the language of trade to describe his settled account with God. The old terms of bargaining no longer apply: there is no place for haggling or quarrel between him and the Lord, because the deal is done. The principal has been pledged, and the gain is already contained within that pledge, the surrender itself carries its own reward. The closing image is generous: he will keep this treasure at home and hand it out to whoever comes asking in a time of need, so the wealth of devotion is meant to be shared, not hoarded.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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