Experience, the end of seeking
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
फीरतफीरत पाया सारा । मीटत लोले धन किनारा ॥1॥
तीरथ बरत फिर पाया जोग । नहिं तलमल तुटति भवरोग ॥2॥
कहे तुका मैं ताको दासा । नहिं सिरभार चलावे पासा ॥3॥
लाल कमलि वोढे पेनाये । मोसु हरिथें कैसें बनाये ॥ध्रु.॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Wandering and wandering, I traversed the whole path. At the shore, all greed for wealth dissolves away. Pilgrimage, vows, austerity, and yoga I tried again. None of it stilled the restlessness of worldly disease. Says Tuka, I am the servant of the one who does not cast away the burden He has taken on His head. The Lord is wrapped in a red blanket. O, how has He arranged all this with me through Hari?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Wandering and wandering, I crossed the whole path. At the shore, all my greed for wealth dissolved away. I tried pilgrimage, vows, austerity, and yoga again. None of it stilled the restless ache of worldly disease. Tuka says: I am the servant of the one who does not throw off the burden he has taken on his head. He is wrapped in a red blanket. O, how has he arranged all this with me, through Hari?
What it means
Tukaram tells the story of his own long search and where it finally rested. He wandered the whole road of seeking, and only at the far shore did his greed for wealth fall away. Pilgrimages, vows, austerities, and yoga he tried over and over, but none of them quieted the restless sickness of worldly life. What gave him peace was becoming the servant of the Lord, the one who, once he takes a devotee's burden on his own head, never sets it down. He marvels at the end that God, wrapped in his red blanket, has somehow worked all this out with him through Hari, as a wonder he did not engineer himself.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
More in this theme →