True worship, outward show is a trap
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय दरा करील वन । समाधान नाहीं जंव ॥1॥
तरी काय तेथें असती थोडीं । काय जोडी तयांसी ॥ध्रु.॥
रिगतां धांवा पेंवामध्यें । जोडे सििद्ध ते ठायीं ॥2॥
काय भस्म करील राख । अंतर पाख नाहीं तों ॥3॥
वर्णाआश्रमाचे धर्म । जाती श्रम जालिया ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे सोंग पाश । निरसे आस तें हित ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What can caves or forests do when there is no inner peace? Are there not plenty of creatures already dwelling there? What did they gain? Rushing into a granary does not bring spiritual attainment. What can ash or smearing do when there is no inner rind of devotion? The duties of the four stages of life are futile once they become mere toil. Says Tuka, outward show is a trap. The real welfare lies in dissolving all desire.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What can a cave or a forest do for you while there is no peace inside? Are there not already plenty of creatures living there? What did they ever gain by it? Diving into a granary does not bring you spiritual attainment. What can ash or smearing do while there is no inner rind of devotion? The duties of caste and life stage are wasted once they turn into mere drudgery. Tuka says: outward show is a trap. The real good lies in dissolving every desire.
What it means
Tukaram is attacking the substitution of external religion for inner change. Fleeing to a cave or forest gives you nothing if your mind is unquiet; he notes wryly that animals already live in those places and gain no enlightenment from the address. Smearing the body with ash is empty when there is no living core of devotion underneath. Even the prescribed duties of caste and life stage lose their value once they become hollow, weary routine. The pattern he points at, and asks the listener to examine in himself, is the wish to look holy on the outside while skipping the costly inner work; the only real welfare is in dissolving desire itself.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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