Nature of God, the trial of his lovers
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हरि तूं निष्ठ निर्गुण । नाहीं माया बहु कठिण । नव्हे तें करिसी आन । कवणें नाहीं केलें तें ॥१॥
घेऊनि हरिश्चंद्राचें वैभव । राज्य घोडे भाग्य सर्व । पुत्र पत्नी जीव । डोंबाघरीं वोपविलीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नळा दमयंतीचा योग । बिघडिला त्यांचा संग । ऐसें जाणे जग । पुराणें ही बोलती ॥२॥
राजा शिबी चक्रवर्ती । कृपाळु दया भूतीं । तुळविलें अंतीं । तुळें मास तयाचें ॥३॥
कर्ण भिडता समरंगणीं । बाणीं व्यापियेला रणीं । मागसी पाडोनी । तेथें दांत तयाचे ॥४॥
बळी सर्वस्वें उदार । जेणें उभारिला कर । करूनि काहार । तो पाताळीं घातला ॥५॥
श्रियाळाच्या घरीं । धरणें मांडिलें मुरारी । मारविलें करीं । त्याचें बाळ त्याहातीं ॥६॥
तुज भावें जे भजती । त्यांच्या संसारा हे गति । ठाव नाहीं पुढती । तुका म्हणे करिसी तें ॥७॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Hari, you are truly without attributes, and yet your Maya is exceedingly harsh. You do what has never been done, what no one else would dare. You took Harishchandra's kingdom, his horses, all his glory, and delivered his wife and son to the house of the Domb. You tore Nala from Damayanti and ruined their union. So the world knows, and so the Puranas attest. King Shibi, compassionate to all creatures, you made him weigh his own flesh upon the scales. Karna, bold on the battlefield, pierced by arrows in the fray, you knocked out even his teeth, demanding still more. Bali, generous with everything he had, who raised his hand to give it all, you forced him into servitude and cast him into the netherworld. At Shriyala's house, O Murari, you staged a sit-in and had his own child slain by his own hand. Says Tuka, this is the fate of those who love you with all their being. There is no knowing what you will do next.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O Hari, you are truly beyond all qualities, and yet your Maya can be terribly hard; you do what has never been done, what no one else would dare. You took everything Harishchandra had, his kingdom, his horses, all his fortune, and set his wife and son to labor in an outcaste's house. You broke Nala and Damayanti apart and ruined their life together; the world knows it, and the Puranas say so. King Shibi, who was merciful to every creature, you made weigh his own flesh on the scales. Karna, brave on the battlefield, riddled with arrows, you knocked out even his teeth and still demanded more. Bali, who gave away everything he had with an open hand, you forced into servitude and pushed down into the netherworld. At Shriyala's house, Murari, you staged your sit-in and had the father slay his own child with his own hands. Tuka says: this is what becomes of those who love you with their whole being. There is no telling what you will do next.
What it means
One of Tukaram's boldest and most unsettling abhangas, spoken with a lover's audacity. He recites the catalogue of God's greatest devotees, Harishchandra, Nala, Shibi, Karna, Bali, Shriyala, and points out that each was put through annihilating trial precisely because he loved God so completely. The formless, attribute-less Lord, he says, wields a Maya that can be merciless, doing to his closest ones what no one else would dare. It is not a complaint that turns away but a complaint that clings: he names the terror of the path honestly, that to love God wholly is to be tested past all bearing, and ends not in doctrine but in awe, there is no knowing what you will do next. Faith here includes the courage to say this aloud.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
More in this theme →