The nature of God, one yet everywhere
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पाहतां तव एकला दिसे । कैसा असे व्यापक ॥1॥
ज्याचे त्याचे मिळणीं मिळे । तरी खेळे बहुरूपी ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणिवेचें नेदी अंग । दिसों रंग निवडीना ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ये चि ठायीं । हें तों नाहीं सर्वत्र ॥3॥ ॥8॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When one looks, He appears to be just one, solitary. Yet how is He all-pervading? He blends with each according to their nature, playing the part of many. He does not reveal Himself through intellectual knowledge; His colors cannot be separated out. Says Tuka, this truth is right here, yet it is not the same everywhere.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When you look, He seems to be one, alone. How then is He everywhere? He blends into each thing's own joining. So He plays in many forms. He does not yield to your knowing. His color cannot be picked apart. Tuka says: He is right here in this very place; and yet He is not the same in every place.
What it means
Tukaram is holding two things together that seem to clash. Look, and God appears single and alone, yet He pervades everything; He does this by merging with each being according to its own nature and so plays as countless forms. He warns that you cannot seize Him with the intellect, his colors will not separate out under analysis. The last line keeps the paradox sharp: He is fully present here in this very spot, and at the same time He is not uniformly available everywhere, so He is found, not deduced.
The Nature of God
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