Saints, God and devotee adorn each other
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भक्ताविण देवा । कैंचें रूप घडे सेवा ॥१॥
शोभविलें येर येरां । सोनें एके ठायीं हिरा ॥ध्रु.॥
देवाविण भक्ता । कोण देता निष्कामता ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे बाळ । माता जैसें स्नेहजाळ ॥३॥
ऐसा भक्तांचा अंकित । लागे तैसी लावी प्रीत ॥ध्रु.॥
निष्काम निराळा । गोपी लावियेल्या चाळा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आलें । रूपा अव्यक्त चांगलें ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Without a devotee, how can God's form take shape, and how can service be rendered? They adorn each other, like gold set with a diamond. Without God, who can grant the devotee desirelessness? Says Tuka, the bond between mother and child is a net of affection. God is so branded by His devotees that He loves them in whatever way they need. Desireless and separate, He yet drew the gopis into His antics. Says Tuka, the unmanifest has come to beautiful form.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Without a devotee, how would God's form even take shape, and who would there be to serve him? The two set each other off, like gold mounted with a diamond. And without God, who could ever give the devotee his freedom from desire? Tuka says: it is like the bond between mother and child, a whole net woven of affection. God is so claimed by his devotees that he loves each one exactly as that one needs. Desireless and apart, he still let himself be drawn into the gopis' games. Tuka says: the unmanifest has come into beautiful form.
What it means
Tukaram describes the love between God and devotee as a true mutuality, each completing the other. Without devotees there would be no one for God to take form before or to be served by; without God the devotee could never reach desirelessness. Like gold and the diamond set in it, each makes the other shine. The astonishing claim is that God lets himself be owned by his lovers, loving each in the very shape that one needs, and that the formless Absolute, who needs nothing, allowed himself to be pulled into the play of the cowherd girls. Love draws the unmanifest into form.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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