Adoration, the playful Lord beyond grasp
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न कळे माव मुनि मागे एकी अंतुरी । साठी संवत्सरां जन्म तया उदरीं ॥1॥
कैसा आकळे गे माये चपळ वो । त्रिभुवनव्यापक सकळ वो ॥ध्रु.॥
हनुमंता भेटी गर्व हरिला दोहींचा । गरुडा विटंबना रूपा सत्यभामेच्या ॥2॥
द्रौपदीचा भेद पुरविला समयीं । ॠषि फळवनीं देंठीं लावितां ठायीं ॥3॥
अर्जुनाच्या रथीं कपि स्तंभीं ठेविला । दोहीं पैज तेथें गर्व हरी दादुला ॥4॥
भावभक्ती सत्त्वगुण जाला दुर्जना । तुका ह्मणे सकळां छंदें खेळे आपण ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
His illusions are beyond understanding. A sage sought a single bedsheet and spent sixty years gestating in a womb for it. How can one grasp the swift and playful One, O mother, who pervades all three worlds? In His meeting with Hanuman, the pride of both was dissolved. Through Satyabhama's form, He humbled Garuda. He fulfilled Draupadi's need at the critical moment and restored fruits to their stems for the sages. When Arjuna set a monkey upon his chariot banner, God resolved the wager and humbled both parties' pride. Says Tuka, He plays with all beings according to their temperament, whether they be virtuous or wicked.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
His illusions cannot be understood. A sage once wanted a single bedsheet, and for it he lay sixty years in a womb. How can you grasp him, O mother? He is swift; he is playful; he fills all three worlds. When he met Hanuman, the pride of both was taken away. Through Satyabhama's form he humbled Garuda. He met Draupadi's need at the moment she cried out. He set the fruits back on their stems for the sages. On Arjuna's chariot he placed the monkey on the banner. He settled the wager between the two and took away the pride of both. With love and devotion even a wicked man turns good. Tuka says: he plays with everyone, each in their own way.
What it means
Tukaram is praying about a God who cannot be measured, and he piles up old stories to show it. He names how this Lord pervades all three worlds yet stays swift and playful, dissolving pride wherever he meets it: Hanuman's, Garuda's, the wager on Arjuna's banner. He meets Draupadi at the breaking point and restores the sages' fruit, small mercy and great power side by side. The point is that the same God who humbles the proud also turns the wicked good through love, and that no one stands outside his play. Tukaram leaves you not with a doctrine but with the sense that the One you cannot grasp is already handling each person according to their own nature.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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