Against show-worship, God lifts the devotee
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लौकिकासाटीं या पसायाचा गोवा । कांहीं नाहीं देवा लागों येत ॥1॥
ठेवावा माथा तो नुचलावा पायीं । ठांयींचिये ठांयीं हालों नये ॥ध्रु.॥
डव्हिळल्या मनें वितिळलें रूप । नांवऐसें पाप उपाधीचें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देव प्रीतीनें कवळी । ठेवील जवळी उठवूनि ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The entanglement of ritual formality for the sake of appearances is of no use to God. The head once bowed at His feet should not be lifted again; one should not stir from that place. A distracted mind distorts the divine form; the very name of worldly attachment is sin. Says Tuka, God lovingly embraces and lifts up the devotee, keeping him close.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The tangle of ritual done for appearance is of no use to God. The head once laid at his feet should not be lifted again. Do not stir from that place. A shaken mind blurs his form. The very name of worldly clinging is sin. Tuka says: God lovingly takes the devotee in his arms, raises him up, and keeps him close.
What it means
Tukaram rejects worship performed for the eyes of others; the elaborate show of ritual gets no traction with God. He sets the true posture against it: a head once bowed at the feet should stay there, the devotee fixed in that place and not stirring. He warns where the danger is, in the mind: a distracted, agitated mind smears the very form of God, and he names worldly attachment itself as sin. The poem ends in tenderness; to the one who stays bowed, God does not stand off but gathers him in his arms, lifts him, and holds him close.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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