Faith, doubt is the only thief
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वर्णावे ते किती । केले पवाडे श्रीपति ॥1॥
विश्वासिया घडे लाभ । देइल तरी पद्मनाभ ॥ध्रु.॥
भाव शुद्ध तरी । सांगितलें काम करी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भोळा देव । परि हा नागवी संदेह ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
How much can one describe the great deeds of the Lord? The faithful one receives the gain; if Padmanabha wills it, He gives. If one's devotion is pure, He accomplishes the work that is asked. Says Tuka, God is guileless, but doubt strips one of everything.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How much can anyone tell of the great deeds of the Lord? The one who trusts receives the gain; if Padmanabha wills it, he gives. If your love is pure, he does the very work you ask. Tuka says: God is simple and trusting, but doubt strips you of everything.
What it means
Tukaram sets faith and doubt side by side and shows what each earns. God's deeds are beyond telling, yet the gain is reserved for the one who trusts; where devotion is pure, the Lord himself completes the work that is asked. He calls God guileless, easily won by simple faith. The sting lands at the end: it is doubt, not God's stinginess, that robs a person of everything, so the obstacle is always on our side, never his.
Faith and Trust
The boldness of faith, steadfastness, and the security of trusting in God.
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