Caught by God, beyond argument
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बोलाल या आतां आपुल्यापुरतें । मज या अनंतें गोवियेलें ॥1॥
झाडिला न सोडी हातींचा पालव । वेधी वेधें जीव वेधियेला ॥ध्रु.॥
तुमचे ते शब्द कोरडिया गोष्टी । मज सवें मिठी अंगसंगें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुह्मां होईल हे परी । अनुभव वरी येईल मग ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Speak now for yourselves. As for me, the Infinite One has claimed me. Though I shake Him off, He will not release the hem of my garment. He has pierced my jiva with an irresistible enchantment. Your words are dry, mere talk. But I have His embrace, body to body. Says Tuka, you too will experience this in time. The proof will come to the surface eventually.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Speak now only for yourselves; as for me, the Infinite One has tied me up. Shake him as I may, he will not let go of the hem of my garment; he has pierced my soul through and through. Your words are dry, just talk; I have his embrace, body to body. Tuka says: you too will know this one day, when the proof rises up in you.
What it means
Tukaram answers people who argue with him about God by saying argument is beside the point. He has been seized: the Infinite holds the hem of his garment and will not let go however he shakes, and the soul itself has been pierced through. Against that, the others' clever words are dry, secondhand talk, while what he has is direct contact, body to body. He does not scorn the doubters but tells them their turn will come; the only real answer to this is the experience itself, and it will surface in them in time.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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