Nature of God, form is maya's stage
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
रूप नांवें माया बोलावया ठाव । भागा आले भाव तयावरि ॥1॥
सींव वाटे परी न खंडे पृथिवी । शाहाणे ते जीवीं समजती ॥ध्रु.॥
पोटा आलें तिच्या लोळे मांडएांवरि । पारखी न करी खंतीं चित्तीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भक्तीसाटीं हरिहर । अरूपीचें क्षरविभाग हें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Name and form are maya, a stage on which devotion plays its part. Boundaries and paths appear, yet the earth is never truly divided. The wise understand this within the jiva itself. The child born from her womb rolls and plays in her lap. The mother makes no distinctions, no grief lodged in the chitta. Says Tuka, for the sake of devotion, Hari and Hara both appear. This is how the Formless divides itself into perishable forms.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Name and form are maya, a stage where devotion plays its part. Borders and paths seem to appear, yet the earth is never really divided; the wise see this within the jiva itself. The child born from her womb rolls and plays in her lap, and the mother makes no distinctions, holds no grief in her heart. Tuka says: for the sake of devotion, Hari and Hara both appear. This is how the Formless divides itself into perishable forms.
What it means
Tukaram explains why God takes shape at all. Name and form belong to maya, he says, yet they are the very stage on which devotion can be played out. The borders we draw, like lines on the earth, are real to the eye but do not actually cut the one ground apart, and a mother makes no such divisions among her children. So the many divine forms, Hari and Hara alike, arise for the sake of devotion: the Formless lets itself be divided into perishable shapes so that love has something to hold.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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