True worship, the two feet of devotion
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मुखें संति इंिद्रयें जती । आणिक नेणे भाव भक्ती॥1॥
देवा हे चि दोन्ही पदें । येर गाइलीं विनोदें ॥2॥
चित्ताचें आसन। तुका करितो कीर्त्तन ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Restraining the mouth is saintliness; restraining the senses is austerity. Beyond these, one need know no other devotion or feeling. These are the two feet of true worship, O God. Everything else is sung only for amusement. Says Tuka, the seat of kirtan is the seat of the mind itself.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To hold the mouth still is sainthood; to hold the senses still is austerity. Beyond these, know no other feeling, no other devotion. O God, these are the two feet of true worship. Everything else is sung only for sport. Tuka says: the seat of kirtan is the mind itself.
What it means
Tukaram strips worship down to two disciplines: guarding the tongue and reining in the senses. He calls these the two feet on which real devotion stands, and dismisses the rest as decoration, things sung for entertainment rather than truth. The closing line moves worship inward: kirtan, the singing of God's praise, does not finally happen in the throat or the hall but on the seat of the mind. If the mind is not gathered and quiet, the outward song is only sport; the real practice is the steadying of attention itself.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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