Devotion, against empty cleverness
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गासी तरि एक विठ्ठल चि गाई । नाहीं तरि ठायीं राहें उगा ॥1॥
अद्वैतीं तों नाहीं बोलाचें कारण । जाणीवेचा श्रम करिसी वांयां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे किती करावी फजिती । लाज नाहीं नीतिं निलाजिरा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If you wish to sing, sing only of Vitthala. Otherwise, remain silent where you stand. In non-duality there is no need for speech; the labor of learning serves no purpose. Says Tuka, how much more disgrace will you invite? The shameless one has no sense of decency.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If you will sing, sing only of Vitthal. If not, stay quiet where you are. In non-duality there is no need for talk; the labor of learning is wasted. Tuka says: how much disgrace will you bring on yourself? The shameless one has no decency.
What it means
Tukaram is cutting away clever speech that pretends to be devotion. The choice he gives is simple: either sing of Vitthal or be silent, but do not fill the air with learned talk. He points out that the highest truth, non-duality, does not need words at all, so all the effort spent showing off knowledge is wasted labor. The sharp closing is aimed at the habit of empty display, the shamelessness of talking past actual love, and it asks the listener to examine that impulse rather than feed it.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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