Nature of God, beyond all words
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ज्याचे गर्जतां पवाडे । श्रुतिशास्त्रां मौन्य पडे ॥1॥
सिणलें सहजर तोंडें । शेषाफणी ऐसें धेंडें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मही । पत्र सिंधु न पुरे शाही ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When his glories are sung, even the Vedas and scriptures fall silent. Shesha with his thousand mouths grew weary trying to describe him. Says Tuka, if the earth were the paper and the ocean the ink, they would not suffice.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When his greatness is sung, the Vedas and the scriptures fall silent. Shesha with his many mouths grew weary trying to tell of him. Tuka says: if the earth were the paper and the ocean the ink, they would still not be enough.
What it means
Tukaram is naming the limit of all speech before God. The Vedas and scriptures, the highest words there are, go silent when his glory is to be told, because no statement reaches him. Even Shesha, the cosmic serpent with countless mouths, tired himself out and could not finish the description. The closing image seals it: take the whole earth as paper and the whole ocean as ink, and you would run out before the praise was done. The point is not despair but awe: he is greater than any account of him.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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