True worship, devotion is God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भाव देवाचें उचित । भाव तोचि भगवंत ॥१॥
धन्यधन्य शुद्ध जाती । संदेह कैंचा तेथें चित्तीं ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुत बराडी । देवजवळी आवडी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे हें रोकडें । लाभ अधिकारी चोखडे ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Sincere devotion is the only fitting thing before God; devotion itself is the Lord. Blessed, truly blessed is that pure disposition; how can any doubt enter there? Loud and fervent calling is what delights God most. Says Tuka, this truth is plain for all to see; the sincere seeker reaps the reward.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Sincere feeling is the one fitting offering before God; that feeling itself is the Lord. Blessed, blessed is the pure heart; how could any doubt enter it? Loud, fervent calling on God is what he loves. Tuka says: this is plain and present truth; the sincere seeker takes the reward.
What it means
Tukaram puts the whole of worship inside the heart's sincerity. The only thing fit to bring before God is genuine feeling, and he goes further: that feeling is not merely a means to God, it is God himself. A heart that pure has no room for doubt, and the calling that pleases God most is not refined performance but loud, fervent longing. The closing line makes it concrete: this is ready, visible truth, and it is the sincere seeker, not the clever one, who actually receives what is given.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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