True worship, the witness within
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तजिलें भेटवी आणूनि वासना । दाविल्याचे जना काय काज ॥1॥
आळवावें देवा भाकूनि करुणा । आपुलिया मना साक्ष करीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं जावें यावें दुरूनि लागत । आहे साक्षभूत अंतरींचा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हा आहे कृपासिंधु। तोडी भवबंधु तात्कािळक ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
That which was renounced, desire brings back again. What use is it to display renunciation to the world? Call upon God with genuine sorrow and make your own mind the witness. You need not go anywhere far; God is the witness dwelling within. Says Tuka, He is an ocean of mercy; He breaks the bonds of worldly existence in an instant.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What you renounced, desire fetches back again. What is the use of parading your renunciation before people? Call out to God, pleading your sorrow, and make your own mind the witness. There is nothing to go to from far away; the witness lives inside your own heart. Tuka says: he is an ocean of mercy. He cuts the bonds of worldly existence in an instant.
What it means
Tukaram exposes the hollowness of renunciation done for show. Whatever you give up outwardly, desire quietly brings back, so display before other people proves nothing. The real work is private: cry out to God with honest sorrow and let your own mind be the witness of your truth, since there is no one else to fool. He insists you need not journey anywhere, because the witness is not far off; God already dwells within the heart. And this inner Lord is no harsh judge but an ocean of mercy who, the moment you genuinely turn to him, cuts the bonds of worldly existence at once.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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