Experience, I have seen myself
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नुगवे तें उगवून सांगितलें भाई । घालुनियां ताळा आतां शुद्ध राखा घाई ॥१॥
आतां कांहीं नाहीं राहिलें । म्यां आपणा आपण पाहिलें ॥ध्रु.॥
कमाईस मोल येथें नका रीस मानू। निवडूं नये मज कोणा येथें वानूं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पदोपदीं कान्हो वनमाळी । जयेजत मग सेवटिला एक वेळीं ॥३॥
पुण्य पाहिजे बहुत । जन्मांतरींचें संचित । होईल करीत । आला अधिकारी तो ॥ध्रु.॥
काय पाहातां हे भाई । हरुषें नाचा धरा घाई । पोटभरी कांहीं । घेतां उरी कांहीं ठेवा ॥२॥
जें सुख दृष्टी आहे । तें च अंतरीं जो लाहे । तुका म्हणे काय । कळिकाळ तें बापुडें ॥३॥
अवघे गोपाळ म्हणती या रे करूं काला । काय कोणाची सिदोरी ते पाहों द्या मला ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
That which never arose, I have revealed it, brothers. Now bolt the door and keep it pure with urgency. Nothing remains now. I have seen myself, by myself. Do not resent the price this earning commands here. None should sort or describe me against another. Says Tuka: at every step, Krishna, wearer of the forest garland, victory to Him, and at the last, all at once. Much merit is needed for this, the accumulated treasure of past births. When the worthy one arrives, it simply happens. What are you waiting for, brothers? Dance with joy, seize this chance. Eat your fill and set something aside. The happiness the eyes behold, let the chitta receive it too. Says Tuka, what then can poor Death do? All the cowherd boys call out: come, let us share the feast! Let me see what provisions each of you has brought.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
That which never came into being, brothers, I have shown it to you plainly; now bolt the door, and keep what you have found pure and unspilled. Nothing is left for me to do now. By myself, I have seen my own self. Do not resent the price this earning costs; do not measure me or rank me against anyone. Tuka says: at every step, Krishna, wearer of the forest garland, victory to him, and at the last, all at once. Much merit is needed for this, the saved-up treasure of many past lives; when the worthy one arrives, it simply happens of itself. What are you waiting for, brothers? Dance for joy and seize the moment. Eat your fill, and set something by. Let the heart receive the very happiness the eyes behold. Tuka says: then what can poor Death do to you? All the cowherd boys are calling, come, let us make the feast; let me see what provisions each of you has brought.
What it means
A poem of arrival that opens into the cowherds' feast. Tukaram announces that he has realized and revealed the unborn reality, that there is nothing left for him to accomplish, and that he has seen his own true self by himself, needing no external measure or rank. Such realization, he adds, is not cheap; it rests on the merit of many lives, and ripens of itself when the soul is ready. Then the tone turns to celebration: dance, seize the moment, let the inner heart receive the joy the senses glimpse, and Death is left helpless. The closing call to bring provisions for the shared feast carries it into the kala, the communal mixing of all the cowherds' food, his image for the gathered devotees' joy.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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