Exhortation, God within the body
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देहीं असोनियां देव । वृथा फिरतो निद।व ॥1॥
देव आहे अंतर्यामीं । व्यर्थ हिंडे तीर्थग्रामीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नाभी मृगाचे कस्तुरी। व्यर्थ हिंडे वनांतरीं ॥2॥
साखरेचें मूळ ऊंस । तैसा देहीं देव दिसे॥3॥
दुधीं असतां नवनीत । नेणे तयाचें मथित ॥4॥
तुका सांगे मूढजना । देहीं देव कां पाहाना ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God dwells within the body, yet one wanders about aimlessly and mercilessly. God is present within; yet one roams uselessly among pilgrimage places. The musk deer carries kasturi in its own navel, yet wanders the forests in vain. Sugar's root lies in the sugarcane; just so, God is visible within the body. Butter already exists within milk, yet one does not know how to churn it out. Says Tuka, I tell the foolish: why do you not see God within your own body?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God dwells within the body, yet you wander about for nothing. God is in the inmost self, yet you roam uselessly from shrine to shrine. The musk deer carries the musk in its own navel, yet wanders the forest in vain. Sugar's root is the cane; just so, God is to be seen within the body. Butter is already in the milk, but you do not know how to churn it out. Tuka says to the foolish: why do you not see God within your own body?
What it means
Tukaram is correcting the search that runs outward when the thing sought is already inside. He says God lives in the inmost self, so all the wandering to pilgrimage places is misplaced effort. His three images each carry the treasure within and miss it: the musk deer chasing the scent that comes from its own navel, sugar that is already in the cane, butter already hidden in the milk. The fault is not absence but ignorance of how to find what is present, like not knowing how to churn the milk. He ends bluntly, calling the listener foolish and asking why he will not simply look within.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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