Mythology, surrender or fight
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पैल आला राम रावणासी सांगती । काय निदसुरा निजलासी भूपति ॥1॥
अवघें लंकेमाजी जाले रामाचे दूत । व्यापिलें सर्वत्र बाहेरी भीतरी आंत ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघे अंगलग तुझे वधियेले वीर । होई शरणागत किंवा युद्धासी सादर ॥2॥
तुका म्हणे ऐक्या भावें रामेसी भेटी । करूनि घेई आतां संवंघेसी तुटी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Rama has arrived, they tell Ravana. Why do you sleep, O king, lost in slumber? All within Lanka have become Rama's messengers. He has pervaded everything, outside and inside. All your closest warriors have been slain. Either surrender now, or come prepared for battle. Says Tuka, meet Rama in the feeling of oneness, and sever your tie to the enemy within, once and for all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Rama has arrived, they tell Ravana. Why do you sleep, O king, lost in slumber? All within Lanka have become Rama's messengers. He has filled everything, outside and inside. All your closest warriors have been slain. Either surrender now, or come ready for battle. Tuka says: meet Rama in the feeling of oneness, and cut your tie to the enemy within, once and for all.
What it means
Tukaram retells the moment Rama reaches Lanka, but turns it inward. The warning shouted to the sleeping Ravana, that Rama has pervaded everything outside and inside and that all his champions are already dead, becomes a warning to the listener's own ego. Ravana is given only two choices, surrender or fight, and the poem clearly wants surrender. Tukaram makes the lesson explicit at the end: meet Rama in the felt sense of oneness, and use that meeting to sever, finally, the tie to the inner enemy, the proud self that resists God like Ravana resisting Rama.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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