Experience, the rare true knower
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
स्वयें पाक करी । संशय तो चि धरी । संदेहसागरीं। आणीक परी बुडती ॥1॥
जाणे विरळा एक । जालें तेथींचे हें सुख। देखिले बहुतेक । पुसतां वाट चुकले ॥ध्रु.॥
तो चि जाणे सोंवळें । शोधी विकल्पाचीं मुळें । नाचती पाल्हाळें । जे विटाळें कोंडिले ॥2॥
तो चि साधी संधी । सावध त्रिकाळ जो बुद्धी । संदेहाचा संधी। वेठी आणि करियेले ॥3॥
अखंड ते ध्यान । समबुिद्ध समाधान । सोंग वांयांविण । ते झांकून बैसती ॥4॥
करणें जयासाटीं । जो नातुडे कवणे आटी । तुका ह्मणे साटी । चित्तवित्तेंवांचूनि ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The one who cooks the meal himself still harbors doubt; and those who drown in the ocean of suspicion are of yet another kind. Rare is the one who truly knows; that joy belongs only to the one who has been there. I have seen many who, when asked, have lost their way. Only such a one understands true purity and digs out the roots of delusion; those trapped in defilement merely dance in elaborate display. Only such a one seizes the right moment, whose intellect remains alert at all three times; he puts doubt itself to forced labor. Their meditation is unbroken, their equanimity steady; without pretense, they simply sit in stillness. Says Tuka, the purpose for which all this is done cannot be reached by any stratagem without offering one's entire chitta and wealth.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The one who cooks the meal himself still holds doubt; and those who drown in the ocean of suspicion are of yet another kind. Rare is the one who truly knows; that joy belongs only to the one who has been there. I have seen many who, when asked, have lost their way. Only such a one knows real purity and digs out the roots of delusion; those caught in defilement only dance in elaborate display. Only such a one seizes the right moment, whose mind stays alert at all three times; he puts doubt itself to forced labor. Their meditation is unbroken, their balance steady; without any pretense, they simply sit in stillness. Tuka says: the thing all this is done for cannot be reached by any trick, only by giving up one's whole heart and wealth.
What it means
Tukaram draws a line between those who fuss over the outward forms of practice and the rare soul who has actually arrived. Many cook the ritual meal yet still carry doubt, and many more simply drown in suspicion; the real joy belongs only to one who has been there himself. That knower recognizes true purity, pulls up the roots of delusion, and stays awake through past, present, and future, so that doubt itself is put to work for him, while the rest only dance in showy display. His mark is quiet: unbroken attention, steady balance, no performance, just sitting still. The closing line names the price, that the goal yields to no clever method, only to the surrender of one's entire heart and all one holds.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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