The one and the apparent
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भोवंडींसरिसें । अवघें भोंवत चि दिसे ॥1॥
ठायीं राहिल्या निश्चळ । आहे अचळीं अचळ ॥ध्रु.॥
एक हाकेचा कपाटीं। तेथें आणीक नाद उठी ॥2॥
अभ्रें धांवे शशी । तुका असे ते तें दुसरें भासी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When one is spinning, everything seems to whirl. But when one stands still, the immovable is seen as immovable. From one clap in the canyon, many echoes arise. The clouds run, and the moon seems to move. Says Tuka, what exists is one thing, but what appears is something else.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When you are spinning, everything seems to spin. When you stand still in one place, the unmoving is seen as unmoving. From one shout in the canyon, more sounds rise up. The moon seems to run because the clouds are moving. Tuka says: what truly exists is one thing, and what appears is something else.
What it means
Tukaram is explaining why the world looks the way it does, and where the error lives. The whirling is in the watcher, not the watched; stop spinning and the steady thing shows itself as steady. He gives two homely proofs: one clap in a canyon throws back many echoes, and the moon looks like it is running only because the clouds drift across it. The lesson is that motion and multiplicity are appearances thrown up by our own restlessness. What is real is single and still; what we see is the second thing, the seeming.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
More in this theme →