Teaching by analogy, the seed that must die
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एका बीजा केला नास । मग भोगेल कणीस ॥1॥
कळे सकळां हा भाव । लाहानथोरांवरी जीव ॥ध्रु.॥
लाभ नाहीं फुकासाठीं । केल्यावीण जीवासाठीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे रणीं । जीव देतां लाभ दुणी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When a single seed is destroyed, only then does it yield a full ear of grain. Everyone understands this principle, from the smallest to the greatest. There is no gain without effort; nothing comes without giving of oneself. Says Tuka, the one who gives his life on the battlefield receives double the reward.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One seed is destroyed, and then it gives a full ear of grain. Everyone understands this truth, the small and the great alike. There is no gain for free, nothing without giving of yourself. Tuka says: the one who gives his life on the battlefield wins double the reward.
What it means
Tukaram takes a fact every farmer knows and makes it a law of the spiritual life: the seed must be buried and broken before it can yield a harvest. From this he draws the plain rule that nothing of worth comes without cost, without something of yourself being given up. He raises the stakes with the image of the soldier who gives his very life in battle and is rewarded doubly. The teaching is that self-surrender is not loss but the only true investment; what you let die is what comes back to you multiplied.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
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