God ours, who guards Tuka
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देव आमचा आमचा । जीव सकळ जीवांचा ॥1॥
देव आहे देव आहे । जवळीं आह्मां अंतरबाहे ॥ध्रु.॥
देव गोड देव गोड । पुरवी कोडाचें ही कोड ॥2॥
देव आह्मां राखे राखे । घाली किळकाळासी काखे ॥3॥
देव दयाळ देव दयाळ । करी तुक्याचा सांभाळ ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God is ours, the life of all lives. God is near, both within and without. God is sweet; He fulfills even the desires within desires. God protects us; He puts even death under His arm. Says Tuka, God is merciful; He takes care of Tuka.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God is ours, God is ours; the life of every living thing. God is here, God is here; close to us, inside and out. God is sweet, God is sweet; He fulfills the longing within the longing. God protects us, protects us; He tucks even death under His arm. God is merciful, God is merciful; He takes care of Tuka.
What it means
The last in the series gathers the comfort of all the rest. God belongs to His devotees and is the life within every living being; He is present here and now, both inside the heart and all around. He is sweet, satisfying not just our wishes but the deepest wish hidden beneath them. He guards His own so completely that He pins even death helpless under His arm. The closing line makes it personal and intimate: this great, near, sweet, protecting God stoops to look after one ordinary man, Tuka. The whole litany lands as assurance that the God of all creation cares for each devotee by name.
The Nature of God
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