Experience, apart from every claim
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ह्मणवितों दास । परि मी असें उदास ॥1॥
हा चि निश्चय माझा । परि मी निश्चयाहुनि दुजा ॥ध्रु.॥
सरतें कर्तुत्व माझ्यानें । परि मी त्याही हून भिन्न ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I call myself a servant, yet I am truly detached. This is my firm conviction, yet I stand apart even from that conviction. All capacity for action belongs to me, yet I am distinct from even that.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I call myself a servant, yet I am truly free of it. This is my firm conviction, yet I am other than the conviction. All doing of action is mine, yet I am separate even from that.
What it means
This is a terse statement of standing apart from each role the self takes on. Tukaram names three layers and steps back from all of them: he calls himself a servant of God, yet says he is detached even from that role; he holds a firm conviction, yet says he is other than the conviction itself; he grants that all action runs through him, yet says he is distinct even from his own doing. The pattern is the witness recognizing that it is not the servant, not the belief, not the deed. Each line is a refusal to be finally caught by any identity, even the devotional and spiritual ones.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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