Nature of God, conquered by love
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आवडीनें धरिलीं नांवें । िप्रयभावें चिंतन ॥1॥
वेडा जाला वेडा जाला । लांचावला भक्तीसी ॥ध्रु.॥
निचाडएा चाड धरी । तुळसी करीं दळ मागे ॥2॥
धरिला मग न करी बळ । तुका ह्मणे कळ पायीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Out of love, He has taken on many names, and through tender affection He is contemplated. The Lord has gone mad, truly mad; He has been bribed by devotion. He cherishes the small and humble; He begs for a single tulsi leaf. Once He is caught, He no longer uses force. Says Tuka, He has been brought to His knees.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Out of love he has taken on many names, and through tender affection he is held in mind. The Lord has gone mad, truly mad; he has let himself be bribed by devotion. He cherishes the small and the humble, and begs for a single leaf of tulsi. Once he is caught, he puts up no struggle. Tuka says: he has been brought to his knees.
What it means
Tukaram turns the usual picture of God upside down. The Almighty, out of love, has taken many names and let himself be bound by simple affection; he is, Tukaram says, mad for his devotees, bribable not by wealth but by love. He prefers the lowly, and the price he asks is nothing more than a single tulsi leaf offered with feeling. Most startling is the surrender: once devotion has caught him, God uses no force to escape, but lets himself be held, brought to his knees by love. Power has been conquered by tenderness.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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