Experience, the silent imprint
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येथील हा ठसा । गेला पडोनियां ऐसा ॥१॥
घरीं देवाचे अबोला । त्याची ते चि सवे त्याला ॥ध्रु॥.
नाहीं पाहावें लागत । एकाएकीं च ते रित ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जन । तयामध्यें येवढें भिन्न ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The imprint of this place has fallen upon me and remains. In the house of God there is a silence; his company is his own way with him. One does not need to look for it; it comes naturally of its own accord. Says Tuka, among all these people, this one difference is immense.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The mark of this place has fallen on me and stays. In God's house there is a silence; his company is just his own way of being with you. You do not have to go looking for it; all at once, on its own, it is there. Tuka says: among all people, this one difference is vast.
What it means
Tukaram is reporting something that happened to him and remains. An imprint from God's house has settled on him and will not lift; what marks that house is a silence, a nearness that is simply God's own way of keeping company. He insists it is not earned by searching: it arrives all at once and of itself, not by effort or hunting. The last line measures the gap this opens. Between the one who carries this imprint and everyone else, the difference is immense, even though it shows as nothing louder than silence.
The Necessity of Experience
Why direct experience of God, not mere learning, is the only path.
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