The world as illusion, all of it false
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लटिकें हासें लटिकें रडें । लटिकें उडें लटिक्यापें॥1॥
लटिकें माझें लटिकें तुझें । लटिकें ओझें लटिक्याचें ॥ध्रु.॥
लटिकें गायें लटिकें ध्यायें । लटिकें जायें लटिक्यापें ॥3॥
लटिका भोगी लटिका त्यागी । लटिका जोगी जग माया ॥3॥
लटिका तुका लटिक्या भावें । लटिकें बोले लटिक्यासवें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
False is the laughter, false is the weeping. False is the leaping about for false things. False is 'mine,' false is 'yours.' False is the burden carried for what is false. False is the singing, false is the meditating; false is the going toward what is false. False is the enjoyer, false is the renouncer; the yogi too is false, for the world is illusion. Says Tuka, false is Tuka with false devotion, speaking false words to those who are equally false.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
False the laughter, false the weeping. False the leaping about for false things. False is mine, false is yours. False the burden carried for what is false. False the singing, false the meditating, false the going toward what is false. False the enjoyer, false the renouncer; false the yogi too, for the world is illusion. Tuka says: false is Tuka with his false devotion, speaking false words to those who are equally false.
What it means
Tukaram lets one word, false, fall on everything in turn until nothing in the world is left standing. Laughter and weeping, mine and yours, the burdens we carry, even singing and meditation are all hollow because the things they chase are hollow. Then he refuses to spare the supposedly higher men: the enjoyer who indulges, the renouncer who walks away, the yogi who disciplines himself are all false too, since the whole stage is illusion. The most cutting move is the last: he names himself false, his own devotion false, his words false and spoken to people just as false. He will not stand outside the verdict he passes on the world; if everything is unreal, so is the one saying so, and only that which lies beyond all of it is left untouched.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
More in this theme →