Exhortation, surrender over ritual
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सहज पावतां भगवंतीं परि हीं विकल्पें परतीं । फुकाची हे चित्तीं वाठवण कां न धरिती ॥1॥
हरि व्यापक सर्वगत हें तंव मुख्यत्वें वेदांत । चिंतनासी चित्त असों द्यावें सावध ॥ध्रु.॥
विरजाहोम या चि नांवें देह नव्हे मी जाणावें । मग कां जी यावें वरी लागे संकल्पा ॥2॥
कामक्रोधे देह मिळण स्वाहाकारीं कैंचें पुण्य । मंत्रीं पूजियेला यज्ञ मनमुंडण नव्हे चि ॥3॥
अनन्यभक्तीचे उपाय ते या विठोबाचे पाय । ध्याइल तो काय जाणे चुकों मारग ॥4॥
आतां सांगे तुका एक तुह्मी चुकों नका । सांडीमांडी धोका शरण रिघतां गोमटें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God is attained so naturally, yet people turn back because of doubts. Why not hold this free remembrance in your chitta? Hari pervades everything; this is the principal teaching of Vedanta. Keep your mind alert and absorbed in contemplation. The offering into the sacred fire means knowing 'I am not this body.' Then why should fresh desires arise again? When body and senses are consumed in desire and anger, what merit can come from ritual oblations? The true remedy lies in exclusive devotion to Vithoba's feet; one who meditates on Him will never lose the way. Says Tuka, I tell you this one thing: do not err. Abandon all hesitation and take refuge; that alone is beautiful.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God is reached so naturally, yet people turn back because of their doubts. Why not hold this free remembrance in the heart? Hari pervades everything; this is the chief teaching of Vedanta. Keep the mind awake and absorbed in His remembrance. The true offering into the fire is to know: I am not this body. Then why let fresh desires rise again? When the body and senses are burned up in desire and anger, what merit can come from your oblations? The mantra-worshipped sacrifice is not the same as shaving the mind clean. The real remedy is single devotion to Vithoba's feet. One who meditates on Him never loses the way. Tuka says: I tell you this one thing, do not go wrong. Drop all hesitation and take refuge; that alone is good.
What it means
Tukaram is correcting people who make God hard to reach when He is near. He says reaching God is natural, and the only obstacle is doubt; the remembrance that Hari fills everything is free for the taking, and Vedanta says no more than this. Then he turns the language of ritual inward: the real fire-offering is the knowledge I am not this body, not a ceremony, and outward oblations are worthless while desire and anger keep burning the senses. Shaving the head is not shaving the mind. The settled remedy he names is exclusive devotion to Vithoba's feet, and the closing charge is plain: stop hesitating and surrender, because that is the one move that does not go wrong.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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