God's nearness, the driven stake
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आठवों नेंदी आवडी आणीक । भरूनियां लोक तिन्ही राहे ॥1॥
मन धांवे तेथें तिचें चि दुभतें । संपूर्ण आइतें सर्वकाळ ॥ध्रु.॥
न लगे वोळावीं इंिद्रयें धांवतां । ठाव नाहीं रिता उरों दिला ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे समपाउलाचा खुंट । केला बळकट हालों नेदी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
His love does not allow any other longing to arise; He fills all three worlds and remains present there. Wherever the mind runs, His nourishment is already waiting, complete and ready at all times. There is no need to restrain the senses from wandering, for He has left no empty space anywhere. Says Tuka, He has driven the stake of His presence so firmly at my side that nothing can budge it.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
His love lets no other longing rise in me. He fills all three worlds and stays. Wherever the mind runs, His nourishment is already there, whole and ready at every hour. I need not rein in the senses as they wander, for He has left no empty place anywhere. Tuka says: He has driven the stake of His level feet firmly at my side. He holds it fast. He lets nothing move it.
What it means
Tukaram describes a presence so total that there is nowhere else to go. God's love crowds out every other desire and fills the three worlds, so wherever the restless mind runs it lands again in Him, where its food is already waiting. Because of this, the usual spiritual labor of restraining the senses becomes unnecessary; there is no vacant spot for them to escape into. The closing image is a tent peg or post driven hard into the ground. God has planted His own feet beside the devotee and fixed them so firmly that nothing can pull them loose.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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