Nature of God, body and shadow
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माया तें चि ब्रम्ह ब्रम्ह तेंचि माया । अंग आणि छाया तया परी ॥१॥
तोडितां न तुटे सारितां निराळी । लोटांगणांतळीं हारपते ॥ध्रु.॥
दुजें नाहीं तेथें बळ कोणासाठीं । आणिक ते आटी विचाराची ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे उंच वाढे उंचपणें । ठेंगणीं लवणें जैसीं तैसीं ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Maya is Brahman, Brahman is Maya, as the body and its shadow. You cannot cut it, cannot push it aside; it vanishes beneath prostrations. Where there is no second, force for whom? The exertion of deliberation is futile. Tuka says: the tall grow taller by their tallness, and the short bow just as they are.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Maya is itself Brahman, and Brahman is itself Maya, the way a body and its shadow are not two things. You cannot cut it away, you cannot push it aside; it disappears the moment you fall flat in surrender. Where there is no second thing, against whom would you use force? The labor of reasoning it out is wasted. Tuka says: the tall grow taller by their own height, and the short bow low just as they are.
What it means
Tukaram refuses the long argument over whether maya, the world-appearance, is separate from Brahman. They are one, he says, like a body and the shadow it casts; you cannot split them. So you cannot fight maya or push it away by effort, and reasoning about it goes nowhere. What dissolves it is not force but surrender: it vanishes the moment you fall flat in prostration, because there was never a second thing to struggle against. The closing image is gentle: each is simply what it is, the tall tall and the low bowed low, and grace meets each as it is.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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