True worship, pretense wins no God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सोंगें छंदें कांहीं । देव जोडे ऐसें नाहीं ॥1॥
सारा अवघें गाबाळ । डोळ्या आडील पडळ ॥ध्रु.॥
शुद्ध भावाविण । जो जो केला तो तो सीण ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कळे । परि होताती अंधळे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God cannot be attained through pretense or indulgence. Discard all that is worthless; remove the veil from before your eyes. Without genuine devotion, every effort is mere labor. Says Tuka, people understand this, yet they choose to remain blind.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God is not won by costume and show. Throw away all the worthless trash; lift the film that covers your eyes. Without pure feeling, whatever you do is only labor. Tuka says: people understand this, yet they become blind.
What it means
Tukaram cuts straight to the heart of worship: God is not reached by playacting, by displays and indulgent shows of piety. He tells the listener to throw out all that worthless trash and remove the film, the cataract, that keeps the eyes from seeing truly. Without shuddha bhava, pure and sincere feeling, every ritual and effort is just wasted toil. The sting is in the last line: people do understand this, and yet they choose to stay blind, keeping the comfortable show going. The poem turns the listener back on himself, to ask where his own worship is pretense and where it is real.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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