Mythology, why not bow
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तारी ऐसे जड । उदकावरी जो दगड ॥1॥
तो हा न करी तें काई । कां रे लीन नव्हां पायीं ॥ध्रु.॥
सीळा मनुष्य जाली। ज्याच्या चरणाचे चाली ॥2॥
वानरां हातीं लंका । घेवविली ह्मणे तुका ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He floated heavy stones upon the water. What then can He not do? Why have you not dissolved yourself at His feet? A stone became a woman by the steps of His feet. Says Tuka, Lanka was seized by the hands of monkeys.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He floated heavy stones upon the water. What then can he not do? Why have you not dissolved yourself at his feet? A stone became a woman by the steps of his feet. Tuka says: Lanka was seized by the hands of monkeys.
What it means
Tukaram recalls Rama's deeds to shame the listener into surrender. He floated heavy stones on the sea, turned a stone into the woman Ahalya by the touch of his feet, and took the fortress of Lanka with nothing but an army of monkeys. The point of stacking up these impossibilities is a single question aimed at the hearer: if he can do all this, what can he not do, and why then have you not yet dissolved yourself at his feet? The marvels are not told for their own sake; they are an argument for self-surrender now.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
More in this theme →