Faith, bread baked over thorns
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जुंझायाच्या गोष्टी ऐकतां चि सुख । करितां हें दुःख थोर आहे ॥1॥
तैसी हरिभक्ति सुळावरील पोळी । निवडे तो बळी विरळा शूर ॥ध्रु.॥
पिंड पोसिलियां विषयांचा पाइक । वैकुंठनायक कैंचा तेथें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे व्हावें देहासी उदार । रकुमादेवीवर जोडावया ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There is pleasure in merely hearing tales of battle, but to actually fight brings great suffering. So it is with devotion to Hari: it is like a bread baked over thorns. The one who can endure it is a rare and mighty warrior. If one feeds the body as a servant of sense pleasures, the Lord of Vaikuntha will not be found there. Says Tuka, one must be generous with the body itself in order to win the husband of Rukmini.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It is pleasant just to hear stories of the fight, but to fight it out is a great pain. So devotion to Hari is like bread baked on a bed of thorns; the one who can take it is a rare and mighty warrior. If you feed the body and stay a servant of the senses, how will the Lord of Vaikuntha be found there? Tuka says: you must be generous with the body itself if you would win the husband of Rukmini.
What it means
Tukaram refuses the comfortable idea that devotion is sweet and easy. Hearing tales of battle is pleasant, but fighting hurts; in the same way, true bhakti is like bread baked over thorns, and only a rare warrior can bear it. The cost is named plainly: you cannot pamper the body and serve its appetites and still expect to find God. To win the Lord of Vaikuntha, the husband of Rukmini, you must spend the body freely rather than coddle it. Devotion here is heroism, not consolation.
Faith and Trust
The boldness of faith, steadfastness, and the security of trusting in God.
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