Nonduality, devotee is God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवासी अवतार भक्तांसी संसार । दोहींचा विचार एकपणें ॥1॥
भक्तांसी सोहळे देवाचिया अंगें । देव त्यांच्या संगें सुख भोगी ॥ध्रु.॥
देवें भक्तां रूप दिलासे आकार । भक्तीं त्याचा पार वाखाणिला ॥2॥
एका अंगीं दोन्ही जालीं हीं निर्माण । देवभक्तपण स्वामिसेवा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे येथें नाहीं भिन्नभाव । भक्त तो चि देव देव भक्त ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God takes incarnation; for devotees, there is worldly life. Both are considered as one. The devotees experience joy through God's own being, and God savors bliss in their company. God gave His devotees form and shape, and they in turn proclaimed His boundless nature. From one body, both came into being: the state of being God-and-devotee, the way of Lord and service. Says Tuka, here there is no sense of separation. The devotee is God, and God is the devotee.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God takes incarnation; the devotee takes worldly life. Look closely, and the two are one. The devotee feels joy through God's own being, and God tastes that joy through the devotee. God gave the devotee form and shape; the devotee proclaimed God's boundlessness. From one body both of these came into being: the state of being God-and-devotee, the way of Master and service. Tuka says: here there is no sense of separation. The devotee is the very God, and God is the devotee.
What it means
Tukaram takes the relationship of God and devotee and collapses the distance in it. He sets the two side by side, God descending into incarnation, the devotee descending into worldly life, and says that on close inspection they are a single thing. Joy passes back and forth between them so completely that neither feels it alone; God even depends on the devotee to be given form and to have his greatness spoken aloud. The closing line is the full nondual claim, stated without hedging: the devotee is God and God is the devotee, with no real seam between them. Love has dissolved the very separation that made the relationship possible.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
More in this theme →