The path, why the saints are needed
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ब्रह्मज्ञान जरी कळें उठाउठी । तरि कां हिंपुटी वेदशास्त्रें ॥1॥
शास्त्रांचे भांडण जप तीर्थाटणें । उर्वीचें भ्रमण या च साटीं ॥ध्रु.॥
याचसाटीं जप याचसाटीं तप । व्यासें ही अमुप ग्रंथ केले ॥2॥
या च साटीं संतपाय हे सेवावे । तरि च तरावें तुका ह्मणे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If the knowledge of Brahman could be grasped in an instant, then why all the labor of the Vedas and Shastras? The debates of scripture, the japa, the pilgrimages, the roaming across the earth: all of it is for this very purpose. For this same end is japa, for this same end is tapas. Even Vyasa composed countless texts for this reason. For this very purpose, one should serve the feet of the saints. Says Tuka, only then can one truly cross over.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If the knowledge of Brahman could be had in an instant, why would the Vedas and Shastras labor so? The arguments of scripture, the chanting, the pilgrimages, the wandering over the earth: all of it is for this one thing. For this is the chanting, for this the austerity; even Vyasa composed countless books for this. For this same reason, serve the feet of the saints. Tuka says: only then does one truly cross over.
What it means
Tukaram answers a tempting shortcut: that the highest knowledge could be grasped at once, with no effort. If that were so, he says, the whole vast apparatus of scripture and practice would be pointless, and it is not. The Vedas, the chanting, the pilgrimages, even Vyasa's mountain of texts, all exist for the single goal of knowing Brahman. Then he names where that long labor actually lands: at the feet of the living saints. Books and rites point the way, but it is service to those who have realized God that carries you across; only there does the seeking finally arrive.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
More in this theme →