God's hunger for devotion
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मासं चर्म हाडें । देवा अवघीं च गोडें ॥1॥
जे जे हरिरंगीं रंगले । कांहीं न वचे वांयां गेले ॥ध्रु.॥
वेद खाय शंखासुर। त्याचें वागवी कलिवर ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसा । बराडी हा भक्तिरसा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Flesh, skin, bones: all is sweet to God. Whatever has been dyed in Hari's color, nothing of it goes to waste. When the demon Shankhasura devoured the Vedas, the Lord carried the demon's very carcass on His person. Says Tuka, such is the Lord; He is greedy for the taste of devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Flesh, skin, bones: to God it is all sweet. Whatever has been dyed in Hari's color, none of it is wasted. The demon Shankhasura swallowed the Vedas. The Lord still carried that demon's body upon Himself. Tuka says: such is the Lord. He is greedy for the taste of devotion.
What it means
Tukaram says God does not weigh devotion by its outward dignity; flesh, skin, and bone, the lowest stuff, all taste sweet to Him. The point is the dye, not the cloth: whatever has soaked up Hari's color is kept and nothing of it is thrown away. He gives the example of Shankhasura, who devoured the Vedas, yet whose very carcass the Lord still bore on His person, because even that had touched Him. The closing image is startling on purpose: God is greedy, hungry for the taste of love, and so no one who turns toward Him is too low to be taken in.
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