India: Tukarama's Mystical Poetry

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Greetings from Maine!

 

Here's some samples of Tukarama, one of my favorite poet-mystics from

India!

 

James

 

Tukarama of Maharashtra

 

He who utters the Name of God while walking,

gets the merit of a sacrifice at every step.

Blessed is his body. It is itself a place of

pilgrimage. He who says "God" while doing his

work, is always merged in samadhi.

He who utters the Name of God

while eating, gets the merit of a fast

even though he may have taken his meals.

He who utters the Name of God without

intermission receives liberation while living

[jiva mukti, liberation of the soul]. 1

 

Can one be entangled in the mire of

Illusion

When the Name of the Lord is constantly

on his lips?

One who ceaselessly meditates on Him,

While walking, talking, eating or sleeping,

While engaged in worldly duties,

The Lord is with him at all times.

 

Repeat constantly the Name of the Lord,

And know that devotion is indispensable

for deliverance.

Thus the devotee becomes the Lord

Himself,

And thus has the Lord become Tuka.

(gatha 4161)

 

Tuka is absorbed in the surging wave

of Sound Divine;

Its resplendence spreads through his

innermost being.

The Lord has made His home in me,

The lamp of eternal Light has been

kindled.

The all-pervading Sound, O Tuka, is

the Lord Himself.

 

(chhandbadh gatha)

 

The soul has been cast in the human body,

It reveals itself as the light of the eye.

 

To realize the Lord,

Saints and Masters denote landmarks;

Whoever turns attention inward,

Captures these inner signs.

 

He perceives the vast Parbrahm,

Intensely hard to cross.

 

I shut off outer communication,

And still myself at the eye center;

I gaze at the inner sky, O Tuka, and lo!

The Supreme Spirit comes to dwell within.

 

(gatha 83)

 

In contemplation of the Lord,

My body and mind are transformed;

What can I now say, what can

I convey?

For the 'I' that was, has become

the Lord Himself.

My soul and the Lord are united;

The creation has become the Lord

Himself.

Tuka has nothing more to add; in

divine bliss,

His soul has embraced the Lord. 2

 

(gatha 4077)

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1 "Mysticism In India -- The Poet-Saints of Maharashtra," R.D. Ranade,

 

SUNY;

2 "Tukaram -- Saint of Maharashtra," Chandravati Rajwade, RS Books;

 

Santmat Fellowship: santmatfellowship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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