Experience, a share to each one's strength
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आम्हां निकट वासें । कळों आलें जैसें तैसें । नाहीं अनारीसें । कान्होबाचे अंतरीं ॥१॥
पीडती आपुल्या भावना । जैसी जयाची वासना । कर्माचा देखणा । पाहे लीळा कौतुक ॥ध्रु.॥
खेळ खेळे न पडे डाईं । ज्याचा भार त्याच्या ठायीं । कोणी पडतील डाईं । कोणी कोडीं उगवीती ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे कवळ । हातीं घेऊनि गोपाळ । देतो ज्यांचें बळ । त्यांसि तैसा विभाग ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Living so close to Him, we have come to know things just as they are. Nothing is hidden in Kanhoba's heart. Their own desires torment them, each according to their longing. The witness of karma watches this play with wonder. He plays the game yet never falls into penalty. The burden rests where it belongs. Some fall into penalty; some solve the riddle. Says Tuka: the cowherd holds the morsel in His hand and gives to each a share matching their strength.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Living so close to him, we have come to see things just as they truly are: there is nothing hidden in Kanhoba's heart. People are tormented by their own feelings, each according to his own craving, while the one who witnesses all action looks on at the play with delight. He plays the game himself and yet never takes a penalty; the burden always rests exactly where it belongs. Some fall into the penalty, and some solve the riddle and go free. Tuka says: the cowherd holds the morsel in his hand and gives to each one a share that matches his strength.
What it means
From the intimacy of the feast, Tukaram reports what closeness to God reveals: God hides nothing, and the suffering people feel is produced by their own cravings, not imposed from outside. God himself is the witness who plays in the game of the world yet never incurs its penalties, because the weight of each action stays with the one who did it. So in the game some are caught and some win through, strictly by their own doing. And the feast-image makes the justice gentle as well as exact: like the cowherd handing out food, God gives each soul a portion matched to its capacity. The system is fair, and it is also kind.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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