True worship, practice what you preach
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जैसें दावी तैसा राहे । तरि कां देव दुरी आहे ॥1॥
दुःख पावायाचें मूळ । रहनी ठाव नाहीं ताळ ॥ध्रु.॥
माळामुद्रांवरी। कैंचा सोंगें जोडे हरि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देखें । ऐसे परीचीं बहुतेकें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If one lives as one preaches, then God is not far away at all. The root of suffering is that outward conduct and inner truth do not match. How can God be won through mere rosary beads and sectarian marks? Says Tuka, look around: such are the majority.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If you live as you teach, then God is not far off at all. The root of suffering is this: your conduct and your inner truth do not match. How can Hari be won by mere rosary beads and sect marks? Tuka says: look around, most people are like this.
What it means
Tukaram is pointing at the gap between show and substance in religion. He says God comes near the moment your living matches your teaching, and that the real root of suffering is the split between outward conduct and inner truth. Beads, sectarian marks, and the costume of piety win nothing from Hari by themselves. He turns the satire on a pattern, not on a person: when he says most people are like this, he is naming the common temptation to wear devotion rather than live it, an invitation to check oneself.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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