The Ekadashi vow, life or hell
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ज्यासी नावडे एकादशी । तो जिता चि नरकवासी॥1॥
ज्यासी नावडे हें व्रत । त्यासी नरक तो ही भीत ॥ध्रु.॥
ज्यासी मान्य एकादशी । तो जिता चि मुक्तवासी ॥2॥
ज्यासी घडे एकादशी । जाणें लागे विष्णुपाशीं ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे पुण्यराशी । तो चि करी एकादशी ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who does not observe Ekadashi lives in hell even while alive. One who does not cherish this sacred vow is feared even by hell itself. One who honors Ekadashi dwells in liberation while still in this body. One who fulfills Ekadashi must go to the presence of Vishnu. Says Tuka, only one who is a treasury of merit truly observes Ekadashi.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One who has no taste for Ekadashi lives in hell even while alive. One who does not love this vow, even hell is afraid of him. One who honors Ekadashi lives free even in this body. One who keeps Ekadashi must go into Vishnu's presence. Tuka says: only one who is a heap of merit keeps the Ekadashi.
What it means
Tukaram presses the Ekadashi fast as a sharp dividing line. To have no taste for it is already to be living in hell, and to scorn the vow makes a person so wretched that hell itself recoils from him. To keep it, by contrast, is to live free even while still in the body, and it carries you straight into Vishnu's presence. He closes by naming the cost: only a person who is already a treasury of accumulated merit actually manages to keep this vow. The point is to weigh whether your own life bends toward the discipline or away from it.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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