Arati, the vast one who became small
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
घ्यावया अवतार जालें हें चि निमित्य । असुर संहारूनि तारावे भक्त ॥1॥
जय देव जय देव जय विश्वरूपा । श्रीविश्वरूपा । ओवाळीन तुज देहदीपें बापा ॥ध्रु.॥
स्थूळरूप होऊनि धरितसे सानें । जैसा भाव तैसा तयांकारणें ।
दैत्यांसी भासला सिहीं गजान । काळासी महाकाळ यशोदेसी तान्हें ॥2॥
अनंत वर्णी कोणा न कळे चि पार । सगुण कीं निर्गुण हा ही निर्धार ।
पांगलीं साई अठरा करितां वेव्हार । तो विळतसे गौिळयांचें खिल्लार ॥3॥
तेहतिस कोटि तिहीं देवांसी श्रेष्ठ । पाउलें पाताळीं नेणती स्वर्ग मुगुट ।
गििळलीं चौदा भूवनें तरि न भरे चि पोट । तो खाउन धाला गोपाळाचें उिच्छष्ट ॥4॥
महिमा वणूप तरि पांगलिया श्रुति । सिणला शेष चिरल्या जिव्हा करितां स्तुती ।
भावेंविण कांहीं न चले चि युक्ति । राखें शरण तुकयाबंधु करी विनंती ॥5॥
परमानंदा परमपुरुषोत्तमरामा । अच्युता अनंता हरि मेघश्यामा ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The very purpose of incarnation was this: to destroy demons and to save the devoted. Victory to you, O cosmic form; I wave the lamp of this body before you, Father. Taking on a vast form, you then become small; you appear to each according to their faith. To demons you seemed a terrifying lion; to Death you were the great destroyer; to Yashoda, a tiny infant. No one can know your infinite measure; whether you are with form or formless remains beyond certainty. The Vedas spread themselves across eighteen branches but cannot capture you, while you tend the cattle of the cowherd folk. Greatest among the thirty-three crore gods, your feet touch the netherworld while your crown escapes even heaven's gaze. You swallowed fourteen worlds yet your belly was not full, but you were satisfied eating the leftovers of a cowherd boy. Says Tukayabandhu, the Vedas grew weary and Shesha's thousand tongues tired in your praise. Without devotion, no cleverness prevails; protect this one who has come to your shelter.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The whole reason for the incarnation was just this: to destroy the demons and save the devoted. Victory to you, victory, victory, cosmic form; I wave the lamp of this body before you, Father. You take on a vast form, then you hold yourself small; as a person's feeling is, so you become for him. To the demons you looked like a fearsome lion; to Death you were the great destroyer; to Yashoda you were a tiny infant. None can know your endless measure; whether you have form or none stays beyond deciding. The Vedas spread out into eighteen branches and still cannot capture you, while you graze the cowherds' cattle. Greatest among the thirty-three crore gods, your feet reach the netherworld while your crown is past even heaven's seeing. You swallowed the fourteen worlds and still your belly was not full, yet you were satisfied eating a cowherd boy's leftovers. Tukayabandhu says: the Vedas grew weary and Shesha's thousand tongues tired in praising you; without feeling, no cleverness works. Keep me, I have come to your shelter, this is my prayer.
What it means
The arati turns on the paradox of the immeasurable God who makes himself small. His incarnations have one purpose, to end the demons and save the faithful, and he meets each being in their own key: a lion to demons, the destroyer to Death, an infant to Yashoda. Tukaram piles up the contrast: the Vedas in their eighteen branches cannot net him, yet he is content grazing cattle; he can swallow the fourteen worlds unfilled, yet is satisfied by a cowherd boy's scraps. The point is that greatness and lowliness are both his by choice, and so is whether he wears form at all. Against all this, the poem insists that no cleverness reaches him, only bhav, true feeling. Writing as Tukayabandhu, he ends with the same plea as a surrendered devotee: simply keep me.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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