Narasimha's fearsome form, mercy to devotees
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
डळमिळला मेरु आणि तो मांदार । पाताळीं फणिवर डोई झाडी ॥1॥
लोपे तेजें सूर्य आणीक हा चंद्र । कांपतसे इंद्र थरथरां ॥ध्रु.॥
ऐसें रूप उग्र हरीनें धरिलें । दैत्या मारियेलें मांडीवरी॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भक्तांकारणें श्रीहरि । बहु दुराचारी निदानिळले ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Mount Meru and Mandara trembled, and the great serpent in the netherworld shook his heads. The sun and moon were dimmed by the radiance, and Indra shook with fear. Hari assumed that fearsome form and slew the demon upon His lap. Says Tuka, for the sake of His devotees, Hari has destroyed even the most wicked of wrongdoers.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Mount Meru shook, and Mandara too. In the netherworld the great serpent shook his hoods. The sun lost its light, and the moon as well. Indra trembled and trembled. Hari took on that terrible form. He killed the demon across His lap. Tuka says: for His devotees' sake, Hari has destroyed even the worst of wrongdoers.
What it means
Tukaram lets the whole cosmos quake, mountains, serpent, sun, moon, Indra, before he names what caused it: Hari taking the fierce Narasimha form to kill the demon laid across his lap. The terror is real, but the reason is tender. The Lord put on that dreadful shape for the sake of a devotee. The frame left unspoken is that even the worst wrongdoer is not beyond the Lord's reach when his devotees are at stake. The aim of the fierceness is protection, and what it answers is faith, not power.
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Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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