Experience, true coin against the plating
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ह्मणउनि काय जीऊं भक्तपण । जायाचीं भूषणें अळंकार ॥1॥
आपुल्या कष्टाची करूनियां जोडी । मिरवीन उघडी इच्छावसें ॥ध्रु.॥
तुके तरि तुकीं खयाचे उत्तम । मुलाम्याच्या भ्रम कोठवरि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पुढें आणि मागें फांस । पावें ऐसा नास न करीं देवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why should I live merely wearing the ornaments and decorations of devotion like borrowed finery? Let me earn my own spiritual wealth through genuine effort and display it openly as I wish. Genuine coin rings true when tested, but the illusion of plating lasts only so long. Says Tuka, traps lie ahead and behind. Do not bring me to such ruin, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why should I live just wearing the ornaments and finery of devotion? Let me earn my own wealth by real labor, and wear it openly, as I wish. Tested on the scale, true metal proves best. How long can plated gold keep up its pretense? Tuka says: there are traps ahead and traps behind. Do not bring me to such ruin, God.
What it means
Tukaram refuses borrowed religion: he does not want to parade devotion he has not actually earned, like a man decked in finery that is not his. He wants the real thing, won by genuine effort, and worn without disguise. His test is the goldsmith's, true metal rings true when weighed, while gilt-over-base metal can only keep its act so long before it is exposed. Knowing the traps of pretense lie on every side, he asks God to keep him from that ruin, the ruin of a faith that is only plating.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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