Metaphor, the mother bears all weight
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लागलिया मुख स्तनां । घाली पान्हा माउली ॥1॥
उभयतां आवडी लाडें । कोडें कोड पुरतसे ॥ध्रु.॥
मेळवितां अंगें अंग । प्रेमें रंग वाढतो ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जड भारी । अवघें शिरीं जननीचे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When the infant's lips meet the breast, the mother's milk flows forth. Both are delighted; love and play fulfill each longing. When body presses against body, the color of love deepens. Says Tuka, all the weight, the whole heavy burden, rests upon the mother's head.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When the baby's lips touch the breast, the mother lets her milk flow. Both are glad; love and play fill each one's longing. As body presses against body, the color of love deepens. Tuka says: all the weight, the whole heavy load, rests on the mother's head.
What it means
Tukaram draws God's care in the image of a nursing mother. The infant only has to reach for the breast and the milk comes; the bond satisfies both child and mother in delight. As the two press close, the love between them only grows richer. The point of the figure is the last line: the whole burden of caring, the entire heavy load, falls on the mother and not on the helpless child, just as the devotee may rest his whole weight on God.
Worldly Metaphors
Poems using images from games, occupations, and daily life as spiritual teaching.
More in this theme →