True worship, God meets only the sincere
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लापनिकशब्दें नातुडे हा देव । मनिंचे गुहए भाव शुद्ध बोला ॥1॥
अंतरिंचा भेद जाणे परमानंद । जयासी संवाद करणें लागे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जरी आपुलें स्वहित । तरी करीं चित्त शुद्धभावें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God cannot be reached through cunning speech. Speak the pure truth of your innermost chitta. The Supreme Bliss knows the secret hidden within; one must converse with Him honestly. Says Tuka, if you truly seek your own good, then purify your mind with sincere devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This God is not caught by clever, flattering words. Speak the pure feeling hidden in your heart. The Supreme Bliss knows the secret within; with Him you must speak honestly. Tuka says: if you truly want your own good, then make your heart pure in its intent.
What it means
Tukaram strips worship down to inner honesty. God is not deceived or won by smooth, cunning speech, because He already knows the secret of the heart; addressing such a knower with anything but truth is pointless. The instruction is to speak the pure feeling you actually hold inside, not the performance you want others to hear. The closing line ties sincerity to self-interest in the deepest sense: if you genuinely seek your own good, the work is not external eloquence but the purifying of your own intent. Worship, for Tukaram, is finally a matter of what is true within, not what is said without.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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