Worldly life, nothing moves without the heart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करितां होया व्हावें चित्त चि नाहीं । घटापटा कांहीं करूं नये ॥1॥
मग हालत चि नाहीं जवळून । करावा तो सीण सीणवितो ॥ध्रु.॥
साहत चि नाहीं कांहीं पांकुळलें । उगल्या उगलें ढळत आहे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तरी बोलावें झांकून । येथें खुणे खूण पुरतें चि ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When the chitta is not in it, nothing can be accomplished; one should not force jars and pots to yield what they do not hold. Then nothing moves from where it is; every effort only adds to weariness. What is weak cannot withstand anything; even without cause, it totters and sways. Says Tuka, then one should speak with closed lips; here, only the subtle sign answers to the subtle sign.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When the heart is not in it, nothing gets done; you cannot force jars and pots to give what they do not hold. Then nothing budges from where it sits, and the effort you make only wears you out. Whatever is weak cannot bear anything; with no cause at all it totters and sways. Tuka says: then one should speak with the lips closed; here, only the subtle sign answers the subtle sign.
What it means
Tukaram observes that without the chitta, the inner heart, no work truly succeeds; you cannot squeeze from empty vessels what they never contained. When the heart is absent, things stay stuck, and all the straining just exhausts the one who strains. Anything weak collapses on its own, swaying without any push. His counsel is to stop the outer noise and speak with closed lips, because at this level communication is silent: one subtle sign is met by another subtle sign. The teaching is that the real exchange between seeker and God happens beneath words, in the heart, not in forced effort.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
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