Metaphor, the warrior who calls his armor a curse
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ढालतलवारे गुंतले हे कर । ह्मणे जुंझणार कैसा जुंझे ॥1॥
पेटी पडदळे सिले टोप ओझें । हें तों जालें दुजें मरणमूळ ॥ध्रु.॥
बैसविलें मला येणें अश्वावरी । धावूं पळूं तरी कैसा आतां ॥2॥
असोनि उपाय ह्मणे हे अपाय । ह्मणे हायहाय काय करूं ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे हा तों स्वयें परब्रह्म । मूर्ख नेणे वर्म संतचरण ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
His hands are bound by shield and sword. He says, 'How can a warrior fight like this?' The armor, helmet, and baggage have become a second cause of death. 'They seated me on this horse; how can I now run or flee?' Though he has every means at hand, he calls them obstacles, crying 'Alas, alas, what shall I do?' Says Tuka, this man is the supreme Brahman itself, yet the fool does not know the secret that lies at the saints' feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
His hands are full of shield and sword. He says, how can a fighter fight like this? The breastplate, the chain mail, the helmet, all this weight: he calls it a second cause of death. They set me on this horse, he says; now how can I run, how can I flee? Every weapon is in his hands, and he calls it a danger. He cries, alas, alas, what shall I do? Tuka says: this man is the supreme Brahman himself, yet the fool does not know the secret that lies at the saints' feet.
What it means
The picture is a soldier given everything he needs to win, and treating each gift as a burden that will get him killed. The shield and sword tie up his hands, the armor weighs him down, the horse traps him; he wails that he is helpless when in truth he is fully equipped. Tukaram turns the image on us: the man is the supreme Brahman, complete and lacking nothing, yet he stands paralyzed and complaining. The secret he is missing is plain and near, lying at the feet of the saints, and only his own foolishness keeps him from seeing that what he calls his ruin is his rescue.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
More in this theme →