The hollow Advaitin, desire unmasks the claim
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विषयीं अद्वये । त्यासी आह्मां सिवो नये ॥1॥
देव तेथुनि निराळा । असे निष्काम वेगळा ॥ध्रु.॥
वासनेची बुंथी । तेथें कैची ब्रह्मिस्थति ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे असतां देहीं । तेथें नाही जेमेतीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who claims oneness with the Absolute while indulging the senses should not be touched by us. God stands apart from such a one, dwelling in desirelessness. Where desire wraps itself around like a cloak, how can there be any state of Brahman-realization? Says Tuka, as long as one dwells in the body in such a manner, liberation is nowhere to be found.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One who claims oneness with the Absolute while indulging the senses, we should not touch. God stands apart from such a one. God dwells in desirelessness, separate from him. Where desire wraps itself around like a cloak, how can there be any state of Brahman? Tuka says: as long as one lives in the body in this way, liberation is nowhere to be found.
What it means
Tukaram turns on the person who talks of nondual realization while still feeding every appetite, and refuses him fellowship. The point is not the theory but the life: God lives where there is no craving, so the indulgent talker has placed himself far from God by his own conduct. Desire wrapped around a person like a cloak leaves no room for the state of Brahman he boasts of. Tukaram lands it plainly: while a man lives in the body in that double way, claiming the heights and serving the senses, liberation is simply not there. The poem asks the listener to examine whether his own life matches his words.
Social Criticism
Rebuke of hypocrisy, caste pride, false teachers, greed, and religious pretence.
More in this theme →