True worship, God at the daily meal
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ग्रासोग्रासीं भाव । तरी देहिं च जेवी देव ॥1॥
धरीं स्मरण तें सार । नाहीं दुरी तें अंतर ॥ध्रु.॥
भोगितां तूं भावें । देव जेऊं बैसे सवें ॥2॥
तुज पावो देवा । भावें अंतरींची सेवा ॥3॥
गुंतला साधनीं । देव नाहीं त्रिभुवनीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे हातीं । न धरितां गमाविती ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If with every morsel you hold devotion, then God Himself dines with you in the body. Hold to that remembrance which is the essence; the distance is not great. When you eat with that feeling, God sits beside you at the meal. Through inner devotion, God reaches you. But one who is tangled in rituals alone will not find God in all three worlds. Says Tuka, those who do not hold Him in their hands will lose Him.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If devotion is in every mouthful, then God eats with you in the body itself. Hold that remembrance; it is the essence. The distance is not far. When you eat with that feeling, God sits and eats beside you. Through the heart's inner service, you reach God. One tangled only in techniques will not find God in the three worlds. Tuka says: those who do not hold him in their hands lose him.
What it means
Tukaram is moving worship out of the ritual hall and into the ordinary meal. If you eat with devotion in every mouthful, he says, God is not far off but sits beside you, dining in your own body; the inner service of the heart is what reaches him. Against this he sets mere technique: one caught up in the machinery of practice will not find God anywhere in the three worlds. The point he lands is that God is held by living remembrance, present in daily acts, and is lost the moment you let go of him in favor of method.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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