Nondual seeing, world as appearance
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लटिका प्रपंच वांजेची संतति । तत्वज्ञा हे भ्रांति बाधूं नेणे ॥1॥
सूर्यबिंबीं काय अंधार रिघेल । मृगजळें तिंबेल नभ काई ॥ध्रु.॥
तैसा दृश्यभास नाडळे चि डोळा । प्रकाशसोहळा भोगीतसे ॥2॥
भोग भोग्य भोक्ता नाडळे चि कांहीं । चैतन्यविग्रहीं पूर्णकाम ॥3॥
तुका ब्रह्मानंदीं आहे तुकब्रह्म । प्रपंचाचें बंड न देखे डोळां ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
This world is false, its offspring barren. One who knows the truth is not troubled by this illusion. Can darkness enter the orb of the sun? Can a mirage soak the sky? Just so, the appearance of the visible world does not delude the eye. One revels in the splendor of pure light. Enjoyer, enjoyed, and enjoyment are nowhere to be found; in the body of pure consciousness, one is perfectly fulfilled. Tuka abides in the bliss of Brahman; the tumult of the world does not appear before his eyes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This world is false, like the children of a barren woman. One who knows the truth is not harmed by this confusion. Can darkness get into the disc of the sun? Can a mirage wet the sky? So too the look of the visible world does not catch the eye. I taste only the joy of pure light. Enjoyer, thing enjoyed, enjoying: none of it is found. In the body of pure consciousness, every want is full. Tuka says: Tuka is Brahman, abiding in the bliss of Brahman. The uproar of the world does not appear before my eyes.
What it means
Tukaram speaks from inside realization, not toward it. He calls the world false in the strong sense: as real as the offspring of a barren woman, that is, never born at all. For one who has seen the truth this is no threat, just as darkness cannot enter the sun and a mirage cannot soak the sky. The whole structure of experience, the one who enjoys, the thing enjoyed, the act of enjoying, dissolves; in pure consciousness nothing is lacking. The closing claim is deliberately radical: he does not say he worships Brahman but that he is Brahman, and from there the world's tumult simply does not register.
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