Experience, prayer for love at the feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न ह्मणे कवणां सिद्ध साधक गंव्हार । अवघा विश्वंभर वांचूनियां ॥1॥
गातां प्रेमगुण शंका माझ्या मनीं । नाचतां रंगणीं नाठवावी ॥2॥
देई चरणसेवा भूतांचें भजन । वर्णा अभिमान सांडवूनि ॥3॥
आशापाश माझी तोडीं माया चिंता । तुजविण वेथा नको कांहीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे सर्व भाव तुझे पायीं । राहे ऐसें देई प्रेम देवा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I will not call anyone accomplished, striving, or ignorant; all I see is the One who sustains the universe. When singing His loving qualities, let no doubt enter my mind; when dancing in His arena, let nothing else be remembered. Grant me the service of Your feet through worship of all beings, having cast off the pride of caste. Cut away the noose of desire, illusion, and worry; I want no pain apart from You. Says Tuka, let all my love rest at Your feet; grant me such devotion, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I will call no one accomplished, no one a seeker, no one a fool. I see only the One who holds up the universe, and nothing else. When I sing of His loving qualities, let no doubt enter my mind. When I dance in His circle, let nothing else be remembered. Grant me the service of Your feet, worshipping You in all beings, with the pride of caste cast off. Cut the noose of my desire, illusion, and worry. I want no pain except the longing for You. Tuka says: let all my love rest at Your feet. O God, grant me such devotion.
What it means
Tukaram prays out of a vision where the usual labels fall away. He refuses to rank anyone as adept, striver, or fool, because he sees only the one God sustaining all, so the divisions dissolve. From that seeing comes his asking: undoubting song, self-forgetting dance, and the service of God's feet practiced as worship of every being, which means dropping the pride of caste altogether. He begs to have the cords of desire, illusion, and worry cut, wanting no ache but the ache for God. The closing line names the whole request: let all his love come to rest at God's feet, and let that devotion be granted.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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