Adoration, all is already Yours
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कासियानें पूजा करूं केशीराजा । हा चि संदेह माझा फेडीं आतां ॥1॥
उदकें न्हाणूं तरी स्वरूप तुझें । तेथें काय माझें वेचे देवा ॥ध्रु.॥
गंधाचा सुगंध पुष्पाचा परिमळ । तेथें मी दुर्बळ काय करूं ॥2॥
फळदाता तूंच तांबोल अक्षता । तरी काय आतां वाहों तुज ॥3॥
वाहूं दिक्षणा जरी धातु नारायण । ब्रह्म तें चि अन्न दुजें काई ॥4॥
गातां तूं ओंकार टाळी नादेश्वर । नाचावया थार नाहीं कोठें ॥5॥
तुका ह्मणें मज अवघें तुझें नाम । धूप दीप रामकृष्णहरि ॥6॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
With what shall I worship you, O Lord of Keshi? Resolve this doubt of mine. If I bathe you with water, that water is already your own form; what do I spend of mine, O God? The fragrance of sandalwood and the scent of flowers are already yours. Fruits, betel, and rice grains all come from you as their giver. If I offer coins, every metal is Narayana; the food offering is nothing but Brahman. When I sing, you are the primordial syllable Om; the clapping of hands is but the sound of the cosmic drum, and there is no ground apart from you on which to dance. Says Tuka, your name is all I have; the incense and the lamp are Rama, Krishna, Hari.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
With what shall I worship you, Lord of Keshi? Clear up this doubt of mine now. If I bathe you in water, the water is your own form. What of mine do I spend, O God? The scent of sandal, the fragrance of the flower, those too are yours; what can I, with nothing, do? You are the giver of the fruit, the betel, the rice. So what is left for me to offer you? If I offer coins, every metal is Narayana; the food is nothing but Brahman, what else could it be? When I sing, you are Om; the clap of my hands is the sound of the cosmic drum; there is no ground to dance on apart from you. Tuka says: your Name is all I have. The incense and the lamp are Rama, Krishna, Hari.
What it means
Tukaram presses a worshipper's honest puzzle into a confession of nonduality. If God is everything, then the water for the bath, the scent of the flower, the fruit and rice and coin and food are all already God; the devotee owns nothing separate to give. Even the song is Om, the clapping is the cosmic drum, and there is no separate floor to dance on. Stripped of every external offering, he finds the only thing he can truly bring is the Name, which is itself Rama, Krishna, Hari standing in for incense and lamp.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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