Exhortation, look in the mirror of the self
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आपलाल्या तुह्मी रूपासी समजा । कासया वरजा आरसिया ॥1॥
हें तों नव्हे देहबुद्धीचें कारण । होइल नारायणें दान केलें ॥ध्रु.॥
बब्रूचिया बाणें वर्मासि स्पर्शावें । हें तों नाहीं ठावें मोकलित्या ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे बहु मुखें या वचना । सत्याविण जाणा चाल नाहीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Know your own true form. Why do you fault the mirror? This is not a matter of body-consciousness; it is a gift that Narayana has bestowed. An arrow must strike the vital spot, but the one who merely releases it does not know this. Says Tuka, many mouths speak many words, but know that without truth, nothing avails.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Know your own true form. Why do you blame the mirror? This is not the doing of body-thinking; it is a gift that Narayana has given. An arrow has to strike the vital spot, but the one who only lets it fly does not know this. Tuka says: many mouths speak many words. Without truth, none of it gets anywhere.
What it means
Tukaram tells the seeker to stop faulting the mirror for the face it shows: see your own real nature instead of blaming what reflects it back. He warns that this seeing cannot be manufactured by the ego's effort; it comes as God's gift. The arrow image sharpens the point: it is not enough to loose words into the air, the shaft must land on the vital spot, and the careless archer never learns where that is. So the closing line cuts at empty talk: many tongues say many fine things, but without truth behind them nothing reaches its mark.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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