Nature of God, being all yet nothing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उदारा कृपाळा पतितपावना । िब्रदें नारायणा साच तुझीं ॥1॥
वणिनलासी जैसा जाणतां नेणतां । तैसा तूं अनंता साच होसी ॥ध्रु.॥
दैत्यां काळ भक्तां मेघश्याममूतिन । चतुर्भुज हातीं शंख चक्र ॥2॥
काम इच्छा तयां तैसा होसी राणीं । यशोदेच्या स्तनीं पान करी ॥3॥
होऊनि सकळ कांहींच न होसी । तुका ह्मणे यासी वेद ग्वाही ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O generous One, O merciful Savior of the fallen, Your titles are true, O Narayana. As You have been described by the knowing and the unknowing alike, so You truly are, O Infinite Lord. To demons You are Death; to devotees You appear as the dark-hued form, four-armed, bearing conch and discus. You take whatever form desire and devotion call forth; You nursed at Yashoda's breast. Being everything, You are yet nothing at all. Says Tuka, the Vedas themselves bear witness to this.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Generous One, merciful One, savior of the fallen: these titles are truly Yours, Narayana. However the knowing and the unknowing have described You, that is what You truly are, O Endless One. To the demons You are Death itself. To devotees You come as the cloud-dark form, four-armed, conch and discus in Your hands. As desire and longing call for, so You become; You drank milk at Yashoda's breast. You have become everything, and yet You are nothing at all. Tuka says: to this the Vedas themselves bear witness.
What it means
Tukaram contemplates how God can be all the things people say of Him at once. The titles are true: He is generous, merciful, the rescuer of the fallen, and He is exactly as both the wise and the simple have pictured Him, because He meets each according to their seeing. To the demon He is destruction; to the devotee He is the beautiful child of Vrindavan who nursed at Yashoda's breast; He takes the very form that love and desire reach for. The deep claim is the last one: having become everything, He is in Himself nothing that can be pinned down, and Tukaram does not advance this on his own authority but says the Vedas testify to the same.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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