Wonder, God who fills all space
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संसाराच्या भेणें । पळों न लाहेसें केलें ॥1॥
जेथें तेथें आपण आहे । आह्मीं करावें तें काये ॥ध्रु.॥
एकांतींसी ठाव । तिहीं लोकीं नाहीं वाव ॥2॥
गांवा जातों ऐसें । न लगे ह्मणावें तें कैसें ॥3॥
स्वप्नाचे परी । जागा पाहे तंव घरीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे काये । तुझे घेतले म्यां आहे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You have made it so that I cannot even flee from worldly life. Wherever I turn, You are already there; what then am I to do? In all three worlds there is not a single corner of solitude left. I cannot even say I am going somewhere else, for that makes no sense. It is like a dream: one wakes up and finds oneself right at home. Says Tuka, what have I ever taken from You that belongs to You?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have made it so that I cannot even run from worldly life. Wherever I go, You are already there. So what am I supposed to do? There is no corner of solitude left, not in any of the three worlds. I cannot even say I am going away somewhere; that makes no sense. It is like a dream: you wake and find yourself right at home. Tuka says: what have I ever taken from You that was Yours?
What it means
Tukaram wanted to escape the world, but he finds there is nowhere to escape to: God already fills every place. He plays with the idea of fleeing and shows it is absurd, because the one he would flee toward is the same one who is everywhere. Even solitude is impossible; in all three worlds there is no private corner where God is not. The waking-from-a-dream image lands the point: any journey away is illusory, since you only ever arrive back where God already is. The closing question quietly admits there was never anything of his own to defend or carry off.
The Nature of God
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