Experience, devotion mirrors itself
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मी त्यांसी अनन्य तीं कोणा असती । ऐसें तंव चित्तीं विचारावें ॥1॥
आहे तो विचार आपणयापाशीं । कळा बिंबाऐसी प्रतिबिंबीं ॥ध्रु.॥
शुभ शकून तो शुभ लाभें फळे । पुढील तें कळे अनुभवें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझा असेल आठव । तैसा माझा भाव तुझ्या पायीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am wholly devoted to them, but to whom do they belong? One should reflect upon this in one's chitta. The answer lies within oneself; like an image reflected in a mirror, it shows exactly what is there. An auspicious omen bears auspicious fruit; what lies ahead is known through experience. Says Tuka, as You remember me, so is my devotion placed at Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I belong wholly to them. But whose are they? This is what one should turn over in the mind. The answer rests within yourself. Like an image in a mirror, it shows just what is there. A good omen ripens into good gain. What lies ahead is known by experience. Tuka says: as you hold me in memory, so is my love laid at your feet.
What it means
Tukaram is pointing to how devotion works as a kind of mirror. He gives himself wholly to the devotees, then asks who they in turn belong to, and says the answer is found by looking inward: a reflection returns exactly what stands before it. The stakes are quiet but real, that the relationship between God and the soul is reciprocal, the omen of love bearing fruit in love, and proof of it comes only through lived experience, not argument. He lands it in the last line: God's remembrance of him and his own devotion at God's feet are the two faces of one mirroring.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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