True worship, only the One remains
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तम भज्याय ते बुरा जिकीर ते करे । सीर काटे ऊर कुटे ताहां सब डरे ॥१॥
ताहां एक तु ही ताहां एक तु ही । ताहां एक तु ही रे बाबा हमें तुम्हें नहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
दिदार देखो भुले नहीं किशे पछाने कोये । सचा नहीं पकडुं सके झुटा झुटे रोये ॥२॥
किसे कहे मेरा किन्हे सात लिया भास । नहीं मेलो मिले जीवना झुटा किया नास ॥३॥
सुनो भाई कैसा तो ही । होय तैसा होय । बाट खाना आल्ला कहना एकबारां तो ही ॥४॥
भला लिया भेक मुंढे । आपना नफा देख । कहे तुका सो ही संका । हाक आल्ला एक ॥५॥
मलंग - अभंग १
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who worship in darkness are wretched, but those who practice zikr, the remembrance of God cut off the head, beat the breast, and make everyone tremble. In that state only you exist, only you. There is no 'I' and no 'you' apart from you. Whoever beholds the divine face is bewildered; no one can recognize another. The truthful one cannot be seized, while the false one weeps in his own falsehood. Who can call anything 'mine' when no one has truly kept company? The dead do not meet the living; the false one has brought about his own ruin. Listen, brother: become whatever you must. Walk the path, eat your bread, and say 'Allah' at least once. Says Tuka, the shaven one who takes this bargain sees his own profit. Call upon Allah, the One.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those who worship in the dark are wretched; those who truly remember God cut off the head, beat the breast, and make everyone tremble. There, only you. There, only you. There, only you, my friend; there is no us and no you. Whoever beholds the face is lost to himself; no one can recognize another. The true one cannot be seized; the false one weeps in his own falsehood. Who can say this is mine, when no one has truly kept company? The dead do not meet the living; the false one has ruined himself. Listen, brother: be whatever you must be. Walk the road, eat your bread, and say Allah at least once. The shaven one who takes this bargain sees his own profit. Tuka says: call on Allah, the One.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts dark, half-hearted worship with true remembrance, which is severe enough to slay the self, the cut head and beaten breast, until only God remains. In that state the difference between I and you collapses; the one who really sees the divine face loses himself and can no longer pick out a separate other. He warns that the false seeker cannot grasp truth and only weeps in his own pretense, his life wasted. The closing counsel is disarmingly simple: live your ordinary life, but say the Name even once and mean it, for that one true word is the whole profit.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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