Nature of God, the mother who feeds
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आवडीसारिखें संपादिलें सोंग । अनंत हें मग जालें नाम ॥1॥
कळे ऐशा वाटा रचिल्या सुलभा । दुर्गम या नभाचा ही साक्षी ॥ध्रु.॥
हातें जेवी एक मुखीं मागे घांस । माउली जयास तैसी बाळा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझें ध्यान विटेंवरी । तैसी च गोजिरी दिसे मूतिन ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He fashioned His appearance to suit the longing of His devotees, and thus His names became infinite. He laid out paths so simple that even the witness of the boundless sky could find the way. Like a mother who feeds her child with her own hands, placing each morsel in its mouth, so does He nourish us. Says Tuka, my meditation rests upon the figure standing on the brick, and that beautiful form is exactly as I see it.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He shaped his form to fit the longing of his devotees, and so his names became endless. He laid out paths so easy that even the witness of the boundless sky could find the way. Like a mother who feeds her child by hand, putting each morsel in its mouth, so he feeds us. Tuka says: my meditation rests on the figure on the brick, and that lovely form is just as I see it.
What it means
Tukaram describes a God who bends to the devotee rather than standing aloof, taking whatever form love longs for and gathering countless names in the process. He says God made the way to himself so simple that even the loftiest, the witnessing consciousness behind the vast sky, walks it the same easy path. The mother image carries the heart of it: God does not merely permit nourishment but spoons it into the child's mouth, doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. For Tukaram this tender accessibility is concrete, fixed on the figure of Vitthal standing on the brick at Pandhari, exactly as he beholds it in meditation.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
More in this theme →