Nonduality, the one and the many
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पय दधि घृत आणि नवनीत । तैसें दृश्यजात एकपणें ॥1॥
कनकाचे पाहीं अलंकार केले । कनकत्वा आले एकपणें ॥ध्रु.॥
मृित्तकेचे घट जाले नानापरी । मृित्तका अवधारीं एकपणें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे एक एक ते अनेक । अनेकत्वीं एक एकपणा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Milk, curd, ghee, and butter are all one in essence, just as all visible things share a single nature. Ornaments made of gold, when examined, are all gold in their oneness. Pots made of clay come in many forms, yet it is all clay in its oneness. Says Tuka, the One appears as the many, and within the many there is only the One.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Milk, curd, ghee, and butter: just so the whole visible world is one. Look at the ornaments made of gold; in being gold they are one. Pots of clay are made in many shapes; know that as clay they are one. Tuka says: the one is these many, and within the many there is the oneness of the one.
What it means
Tukaram teaches nonduality through plain household substances. Milk that becomes curd, ghee, and butter is one thing throughout; gold worked into many ornaments is still only gold; clay shaped into countless pots is still only clay. By this he says the whole visible world, in all its variety, has a single nature underneath. The forms are real enough as forms, but they add nothing to the substance and take nothing from it. The conclusion holds both sides together: the one appears as the many, and the many never stops being the one.
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