The hidden God, here yet nowhere
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ठाव नाहीं बुड । घरें वसविसी कुड ॥1॥
भलते ठायीं तुझा वास । सदा एरवी उदास ॥ध्रु.॥
जागा ना निजेला । धाला ना भुकेला ॥2॥
न पुसतां भलें । तुका ह्मणे बुझें बोलें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You have no foundation and no bottom; You build houses on pure illusion. Your dwelling is wherever You please; otherwise You are utterly indifferent. You are neither awake nor asleep, neither full nor hungry. Says Tuka, unless one asks, You speak sweetly and sensibly enough.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have no ground and no bottom; You build Your houses out of illusion. You live wherever You please, and otherwise You are utterly aloof. You are neither awake nor asleep, neither full nor hungry. Tuka says: unless someone asks, You speak sweetly and sensibly enough.
What it means
Tukaram is describing the strangeness of God's being. God rests on no foundation and has no bottom to plumb; whatever dwelling He seems to take is built on appearance, and He is at home anywhere yet attached to nowhere. He is past all the pairs we live by: not waking, not sleeping, not satisfied, not in need. The last line catches the catch: God seems reasonable and sweet only as long as you do not press Him with questions, because His real nature has no edges for our questions to grasp.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
More in this theme →