Nondual counsel, sweep all into solitude
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एकविध नारायण । तेथें विषमाचा सीण । पालटों चि भिन्न । नये अणुप्रमाण ॥1॥
अवघें सारावें गाबाळ । चुकवूनियां कोल्हाळ । आनंदाचें स्थळ । एकाएकीं एकांत ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका ह्मणे आळस निद्रा । येथें देउनियां चिरा । देउनियां धीरा । मिठी जाणा जागृतीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When Narayana is realized as one without a second, the pain of duality ceases. Not even the slightest trace of difference can remain. Sweep away all the confusion and commotion. The place of bliss is in solitude, alone with the One. Says Tuka, cast aside laziness and sleep. Giving yourself to patience, embrace wakefulness with a firm hold.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Narayana is one, without a second. There the strain of duality has no place. There is no changing it into something separate, not by a hair's breadth. Sweep away all the rubbish. Get clear of the din. The place of bliss is solitude, alone with the One. Tuka says: lay down laziness and sleep here like a stone slab. Give yourself to patience, and know the embrace in full wakefulness.
What it means
Tukaram states the nondual ground plainly: Narayana is one without a second, and where that is seen the strain of duality simply cannot stand, not even a hair's worth of difference. The middle verse turns this into practice, telling the seeker to sweep away clutter and step out of the noise, because the place of bliss is solitude, alone with the One. The closing image is sharp: lay laziness and sleep down flat like a slab of stone and hold firm with patience. What is embraced is not found in dullness or in drowsy ease but in full wakefulness. The poem joins a clear metaphysical claim to a demand for alert, undistracted attention.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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