The mark without the testing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एका बोटाची निशाणी । परीपाख नाहीं मनीं ॥1॥
तरिं तें संपादिलें सोंग । कारणावांचूनियां वेंग ॥ध्रु.॥
वैष्णवांचा धर्म। जग विष्णु नेणे वर्म ॥2॥
अतिशयें पाप । तुका सत्य करी माप ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A mark is made with one finger, but there is no real testing in the mind. Then it is all a performance, an embrace without any cause. The dharma of the Vaishnavas is that the whole world is Vishnu, but people do not know this secret. Says Tuka, where sin is excessive, truth becomes the measuring standard.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A mark made with one finger, but no real testing in the mind. Then the whole thing is a costume put on, an embrace with no reason behind it. The Vaishnava's dharma is this: the whole world is Vishnu; people do not know the secret. Tuka says: where sin is great, truth is the measure that weighs it.
What it means
Tukaram looks at outward religion and finds it hollow when the inside is empty. A devotee can paint the sect-mark on the forehead with one finger, but if the mind has done no real self-examination, the mark is only a costume and the show of devotion is an embrace with nothing behind it. The real Vaishnava dharma he names is to see the whole world as Vishnu, a secret the world walks past. He warns that the gesture cannot hide the heart: where sin runs deep, it is truth, not the painted mark, that does the weighing, and the measure is exact.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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