Experience, God speaks through the saint
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वचनाचा अनुभव हातीं । बोलविती देव मज ॥1॥
परि हें न कळे अभाविकां । जडलोकां जिवांसी ॥ध्रु.॥
अश्रुत हे प्रसादिक । कृपा भीक स्वामीची ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वरावरी । जातों तरी सांगत ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The truth of these words is in my hands; it is God who makes me speak. But this cannot be understood by the faithless, by those souls sunk in dull matter. These are unheard-of gifts of grace, alms of mercy from the Master. Says Tuka, I keep telling you as I go along, ascending ever higher.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The truth of these words is in my hands. It is God who makes me speak them. But the faithless cannot grasp this. Souls sunk in dull matter cannot grasp it. These are unheard-of gifts of grace, the alms of mercy from the Master. Tuka says: I keep telling you as I go, climbing higher all the while.
What it means
Tukaram says the words he speaks are not mere opinion but a tested experience he holds in hand, and that God himself is the one speaking through him. He admits this cannot land on the faithless or on people sunk in dull, material living, since such grace is recognized only by those open to it. He calls what he has received unheard-of gifts, alms of mercy handed down by the Master. The closing line shows him still in motion, passing on the teaching as he goes and rising higher in experience as he speaks.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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