Nature of God, the Lord who serves His own
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हरिकथेची आवडी देवा । करितो सेवा दासांची॥1॥
ह्मणोनि हिंडे मागें मागें । घरटी जागे घालितसे ॥ध्रु.॥
निर्लज्ज भोजें नाचत रंगीं । भरतें अंगीं प्रेमाचें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे विकलें देवें। आपण भावें संवसाटी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God Himself loves the recital of Hari's stories and renders service to His own devotees. That is why He wanders after them, keeping vigil at every doorstep. Shameless and joyful, He dances in the gathering as waves of love fill His being. Says Tuka, God has sold Himself; devotion has won Him over as a companion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God loves the telling of Hari's stories, and he serves his own servants. So he wanders after them, again and again, keeping watch at every doorstep. Shameless and joyful, he dances in the gathering, his whole body filling with love. Tuka says: God has sold himself. By their devotion he has been bought as their companion.
What it means
Tukaram turns the usual order upside down: here it is God who serves the devotees, not the other way around. Drawn by the singing of Hari's stories, God trails after his own people and stands guard at their doors. He throws off all dignity, dancing in the assembly with love surging through him. The closing image is the boldest claim: God has let himself be sold, purchased by nothing but devotion, content to become the devotee's own companion. The point is that love, not power, is what God answers to.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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