Experience, the marks of one who knows the Self
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नमस्कारी भूतें विसरोनि याती । तेणें आत्मिस्थती जाणीतली ॥1॥
परउपकारीं वेचियेल्या शक्ती । तेणें आत्मिस्थती जाणीतली ॥ध्रु.॥
द्वयें द्वैतभाव नाहीं जया चित्तीं । तेणें आत्मिस्थती जाणीतली ॥2॥
जयाचिये वाचे नये निंदास्तुती । तेणें आत्मिस्थती जाणीतली ॥3॥
उचित अनुचित जाणे धर्मनीती । दृढ भाव भक्ती मानव तो ॥4॥
तुकयाबंधु ह्मणे वरकड ते येर । संसाराचे खर भारवाही ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who bows to all beings, forgetting caste, has known the state of the Self. One who has spent all energy in service to others has known the state of the Self. One whose chitta holds no trace of duality or division has known the state of the Self. One from whose speech neither praise nor blame issues has known the state of the Self. One who understands what is fitting and what is not, who knows the way of righteousness, and whose devotion is firm: that is a true human being. Says Tukya-bandhu, the rest are mere pack-animals carrying the burdens of worldly existence.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One who bows to all beings, forgetting caste, has known the state of the Self. One who has poured out all his strength in serving others has known the state of the Self. One in whose heart there is no duality, no sense of two, has known the state of the Self. One from whose mouth no blame and no praise comes has known the state of the Self. One who knows what is fitting and what is not, who knows the way of right conduct, whose faith and devotion are firm: that one is a true human being. Tukya-bandhu says: the rest are only donkeys, hauling the loads of the world.
What it means
The poem gives a test for self-realization, and the test is conduct, not claim. The one who truly knows the Self bows to every creature without regard for caste, spends himself in service, holds no inner sense of division, and speaks neither flattery nor slander. Add discernment of right and wrong and steady devotion, and you have a true human being. Everyone else, however learned or busy, is dismissed with a blunt image: a beast of burden carrying worldly loads. The sting is meant to make the listener ask which of the two he is living as.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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