God's greatness is his bending to the devotee
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तरि कां पवाडे गर्जती पुराणें । असता नारायण शक्तिहीन ॥1॥
कीर्तीविण नाहीं नामाचा डांगोरा । येर कां इतरां वाणीत ना ॥ध्रु.॥
तरि च ह्मणा तो आहे चिरंजीव । केलियाचा जीव सुखीं गुण ॥2॥
चांगलेपण हें निरुपायता अंगीं । बाणलें श्रीरंगा ह्मणऊनि ॥3॥
तरि च हा थोर सांगितलें करी । अभिमान हरीपाशीं नाहीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे तरि करिती याची सेवा । देवापाशीं हेवा नाहीं कुडें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Then why do the Puranas resound with His great deeds, if Narayana were truly without power? Without glory, the Name would not be proclaimed far and wide. Of course it reaches all others. Therefore, know that He is the eternal living One. The nature of the good deed done brings happiness to the jiva. This excellence of character, this helplessness before devotion, has become part of Shrirang's very being. This is why He is great: He does whatever His devotee asks. There is no pride in Hari. Says Tuka, that is why they serve Him. There is no envy and no guile in God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If Narayana were truly without power, why would the Puranas thunder with his great deeds? Without his glory the Name would never be cried far and wide; why else would everyone proclaim it? So know this: he is the eternal living One, and the good he does brings happiness to the jiva. This goodness, this helplessness before his devotees, has become part of Shrirang's very nature. This is why he is great: he does whatever his devotee asks. There is no pride in Hari. Tuka says: that is why they serve him. In God there is no envy and no guile.
What it means
Tukaram argues, almost like a debater, from the evidence back to the truth: the scriptures resound with God's deeds and the whole world cries his Name, and that could not be so if he were powerless. But the proof he cares about is moral, not metaphysical. What makes God great, he says, is not raw power but a kind of willing helplessness before those who love him, that he does whatever his devotee asks, carries no pride, holds no envy or guile. The radical claim is that God's greatness is measured by how completely he bends to the devotee. That, and not fear, is why people serve him.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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