Metaphor, the tested soul endures
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करूनि कडविड । जमा घडिली लगड ॥1॥
आतां होतें तें चि जालें । नाम ठायींचें चांगलें ॥ध्रु.॥
उतरलें डाई । उत्तम ते सुलाख ताई ॥2॥
हिंडवितां देश । तुका ह्मणे नाहीं नाश ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Through hard refining and patient effort, the raw lump has been shaped into an ingot. Now what was always meant to be has come to pass; the original good name stands revealed. The assay has been completed, and the stamp of purity is set. Says Tuka, carry it through every land; it will never perish.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Through hard refining and patient work, the raw lump has been shaped into an ingot. Now what was always meant to be has come to pass; the original good name stands clear. The assay is done, and the stamp of purity is set. Tuka says: carry it through every land; it will never perish.
What it means
Tukaram uses the goldsmith's craft to describe what suffering and discipline do to a soul. The crude lump is melted and refined until it becomes a finished ingot, and only then does its true worth, its good name, show itself. The metal is assayed and stamped pure, the way a tested life is proved genuine. The closing claim is the point: once the gold is real, you can take it anywhere and it holds its value, just as a soul truly purified can pass through any place and never be lost or destroyed.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
More in this theme →