Maya's shadow, asking God to untie us
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विश्वव्यापी माया । तिणें झाकुिळलें छाया ॥1॥
सत्य गेलें भोळ्यावारी । अविद्येची चाली थोरी ॥ध्रु.॥
आपुलें चि मन । करवी आपणां बंधन ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । तुह्मी कोडीं हीं उगवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Maya pervades the whole world and has covered everything with her shadow. Truth has been swallowed up, and ignorance reigns supreme. One's own mind creates one's own bondage. Says Tuka, O God, please unravel these riddles.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Maya spreads through the whole world. She has covered everything with her shadow. Truth has been swallowed up. Ignorance rules over all. My own mind makes my own bondage. Tuka says: O God, you alone can untie these knots.
What it means
Tukaram names a single force that has darkened the world: Maya, the power of illusion, which throws her shadow over everything until truth is lost and ignorance takes the throne. Then he turns the blame inward. The bondage is not laid on him from outside; his own mind ties the knot and holds it tight. Having seen that the trap is self-made, he sees that he cannot cut it himself. So he ends by handing the riddle to God, the only one who can unravel what the mind has knotted.
Worldly Life
The perplexities of action, karma, and navigating life in the world.
More in this theme →