True worship, feeling alone is the means
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कासिया पाषाण पूजिती पितळ । अष्ट धातु खळ भावें विण ॥1॥
भाव चि कारण भाव चि कारण । मोक्षाचें साधन बोलियेलें ॥ध्रु.॥
काय करिल जपमाळा कंठमाळा । करिशी वेळोवेळां विषयजप ॥2॥
काय करिशील पंडित हे वाणी । अक्षराभिमानी थोर होय ॥3॥
काय करिशील कुशल गायन । अंतरीं मळीण कुबुिद्ध ते ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे भाव नाहीं करी सेवा । तेणें काय देवा योग्य होशी ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why worship stone, brass, or alloys of eight metals if there is no devotion behind it? Feeling alone is the cause; feeling alone is declared to be the means of liberation. What use is a rosary around the neck if you go on chanting the pleasures of the senses? What use is a scholar's speech if it only swells with pride in mere letters? What use is skillful singing if the mind within remains impure and corrupt? Says Tuka, without true feeling behind your worship, how will you become worthy of God?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why worship stone, or brass, or an alloy of eight metals, if there is no feeling behind it? Feeling alone is the cause; feeling alone is the cause; this is called the means of liberation. What good is a rosary at your neck if you keep chanting the pleasures of the senses? What good is a scholar's fine speech if it only swells with pride in its letters? What good is skillful singing if the mind inside stays dirty and crooked? Tuka says: if there is no true feeling behind your service, how will you become worthy of God?
What it means
Tukaram strips worship down to its one essential and repeats it for emphasis: feeling, bhava, is the cause, and it is the very means of liberation. The outward forms by themselves prove nothing. A rosary at the neck counts for nothing if the heart is busy chanting its cravings; learned speech only inflates pride; even beautiful singing is hollow if the mind behind it is impure. Each example shows a respectable religious form being used as a cover for an unchanged heart. The closing question turns it on the listener, and on oneself: without real feeling in the service, what makes you fit to stand before God?
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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