The Name, God comes running
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
शुकसनकादिकीं उभारिला बाहो । परिक्षितीला हो दिसां सातां ॥१॥
उठाउठी करी स्मरणाचा धांवा । धरवत देवा नाहीं धीर ॥ध्रु.॥
त्वरा जाली गरुड टाकियेला मागें । द्रौपदीच्या लागें नारायणें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे करी बहु च तांतडी । प्रेमाची आवडी लोभ फार ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Sages like Shuka and Sanaka raised their arms in triumph at what God did for Parikshit in seven days. At the first cry of remembrance, God breaks into a run. He cannot hold His patience, not for a moment. Such was His haste that He left Garuda behind, racing on foot to reach Draupadi in her hour of need. Says Tuka, He is in a great rush always. His love for the devotee's love is deep, His greed for it boundless.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Sages like Shuka and Sanaka raised their arms in wonder at what God did for Parikshit in just seven days. At the very first cry of remembrance, God breaks into a run; he cannot hold his patience even for a moment. So great was his haste once that he left his eagle Garuda behind and ran on foot to reach Draupadi in her hour of need. Tuka says: he is always in a great hurry. His love for the devotee's love runs deep, and his hunger for it knows no bound.
What it means
Tukaram celebrates God's sheer eagerness to come to those who call him. He gathers the famous stories, Parikshit saved in seven days, Draupadi rescued in the open assembly, to make one point: God does not wait to be coaxed. At the first remembrance he comes running, too impatient even to mount his eagle. The lovely reversal in the last line is that the God who needs nothing is pictured here as greedy, hungry for the devotee's love, in a hurry to receive it. The image turns the whole transaction of grace around: the Lord wants us more than we want him.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
More in this theme →