Experience, the seer settles
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हतियाचा सोस होता । झडो आतां पदर ॥1॥
देखणें तें देखियेलें । आतां भलें सािक्षत्वें ॥ध्रु.॥
लाभें कळों आली हानि । राहों दोन्हीं निराळीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे एकाएकीं । हा कां लोकीं पसारा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The yearning for what never existed has now ended; let that curtain finally drop. What was to be seen has been seen. From now on, let witnesshood itself be the way of seeing. Through gain, loss has been recognized; let them both stand apart. Says Tuka, why then, in the midst of all people, is there still this display?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The craving for what was never real has ended; let that veil drop now. What was to be seen has been seen. From now, let it be enough just to witness. Through what I gained I came to know the loss; let the two stand apart. Tuka says: when it has all become one and clear, why is there still this show among people?
What it means
Tukaram is describing the quiet after seeing the truth. The old hunger for things that never had any substance is finished, so the screen that hid the real can fall away. Having truly seen, he no longer needs to grasp; he can simply stand as witness, holding gain and loss apart instead of being pulled by either. Then comes his honest puzzle: once everything has resolved into one, why does the world's display still go on at all?
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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