Experience, build once on God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बोलणें तें आह्मी बोलों उपयोगीं । पडिलें प्रसंगी काळाऐसें ॥1॥
जयामध्यें देव आदि मध्यें अंतीं । खोल पाया भिंती न खचेसी ॥ध्रु.॥
करणें तें आह्मी करूं एका वेळे । पुढिलिया बळें वाढी खुंटे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे असों आज्ञोचीं धारकें । ह्मणऊनि एकें घायें सारूं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We speak only words that serve a purpose, fitting the occasion as it demands. When God is present at the beginning, middle, and end, the foundation and walls of one's work stand firm. What we build, we build once and for all; subsequent additions only weaken it. Says Tuka, we are bearers of the Lord's command, and so we finish the job in a single stroke.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We speak only words that serve. They fit the moment as it comes. When God is there at the start, the middle, and the end, the deep foundation and the walls do not give way. What we do, we do at one stroke. Adding to it later only weakens it. Tuka says: we are bearers of the Lord's command. So we finish it with a single blow.
What it means
Tukaram speaks from settled experience about how work that lasts is done. His words are not idle; he says only what serves the occasion. The test of any work is whether God is present at its beginning, middle, and end, for only then do the foundation and walls hold firm. He insists on doing the thing decisively, all at once, because what is patched on afterward only weakens the whole. The ground of that decisiveness is given in the close: he acts as a bearer of the Lord's command, and so he can finish in a single stroke.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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