Metaphor, the essence and the fool
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माकडा दिसती कंवटी नारळा । भोक्ता निराळा वरील सारी ॥1॥
एका रस एका तोंडीं पडे माती । आपुलाले नेती विभाग ते ॥ध्रु.॥
सुनियांसी क्षीर वाढिल्या ओकवी । भोगित्यां पोसवी धणीवरी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भार वागविती मूर्ख । नेतील तें सार परीक्षक ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A monkey sees only the shell of a coconut, while the one who enjoys it savors the flesh within. One gets the essence while another gets only dust in his mouth; each takes his own portion. If you feed milk to a dog, it vomits, but one who savors it is nourished to fullness. Says Tuka, fools carry the burden, while those with discernment extract the essence.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A monkey sees only the shell of the coconut. The one who enjoys it knows the meat is something else, set apart inside. One gets the juice; another gets only dirt in his mouth. Each carries off his own share. Feed milk to a dog and it vomits it up; the one who can taste it is nourished to the full. Tuka says: fools carry the load, while those who can judge carry off the essence.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts two ways of meeting the same thing, and the difference is in the receiver, not the gift. The monkey and the dog stand for those who handle what is precious yet cannot take its worth, getting only the husk, or even vomiting back what would have fed them. The one who can taste reaches the kernel and is nourished. The closing line sharpens it to a warning about ourselves: the fool labors under the outer burden of religion while the discerning quietly take its essence, so the question is which we are.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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