True worship, the Name does it all
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
यज्ञनिमित्त तें शरिरासी बंधन । कां रे तृष्णा वांयांविण वाढविली ॥1॥
नव्हे ते भक्ति परलोकसाधन । विषयांनीं बंधन केलें तुज ॥ध्रु.॥
आशा धरूनि फळाची । तीथाअ व्रतीं मुक्ति कैंचि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सिणसी वांया । शरण न वजतां पंढरिराया ॥3॥
संध्या कर्म ध्यान जप तप अनुष्ठान । अवघें घडे नाम उच्चारितां ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Rituals only bind the body further; why have you needlessly nourished craving? Such devotion does not lead to the other shore; the senses have bound you tightly. When you perform pilgrimages and fasts with an eye on the fruit, how can liberation ever come? Says Tuka, you toil in vain if you do not surrender to the Lord of Pandhari. Through the simple utterance of the name, every prayer, ritual, meditation, austerity, and vow is fulfilled.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why do rituals only bind the body more? Why have you grown your craving for nothing? That kind of devotion is no path to the other shore. The senses have tied you up. When you keep an eye on the reward, doing your pilgrimages and your fasts, where will freedom come from? Tuka says: you wear yourself out for nothing if you do not surrender to the King of Pandhari. Evening rites, action, meditation, chanting, austerity, observance: all of it happens when you speak the Name.
What it means
Tukaram turns on the machinery of religion when it is run for profit. Rites done to gain a fruit only fasten the body tighter and feed the craving they claim to cure, so they cannot ferry anyone across; the senses still hold the rope. He says the toil is wasted without surrender to the Lord of Pandhari. The release he points to is small and total: speak the Name, and every rite, meditation, and austerity is already fulfilled in it.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
More in this theme →