Complaint, God's forgotten others
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
त्रैलोकींचा नाथ सकळांचा आधार । बिळचें तुवां घर धरियेलें ॥1॥
आह्मां मोकलिलें कोणां निरविलें । कोणा हातीं दिले तिन्ही लोक ॥ध्रु.॥
अनाथांचा बंधु दासांचा कैवारी । िब्रदें तुझीं हरी जाती वांयां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसें बोलिला दुर्वास । वाटला संतोष पांडुरंगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You are the Lord of the three worlds, the support of all, yet You have made Bali's doorstep Your home. You have left us abandoned. To whom have You entrusted us? To whom have You given the three worlds? Brother of the helpless, champion of the servants, Your pledges are going to waste, O Hari. Says Tuka, thus spoke Durvasa, and Panduranga was pleased.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Lord of the three worlds, support of all, You have made Bali's house Your home. You have left us behind. To whom did You hand us over? Into whose hands did You give the three worlds? Brother of the helpless, defender of servants: Your pledges, Hari, are going to waste. Tuka says: thus Durvasa spoke, and Panduranga was pleased.
What it means
Tukaram puts a sharp complaint into Durvasa's mouth: the Lord of all worlds has shut Himself inside one devotee's house and abandoned everyone else. The protest hits at God's own titles, brother of the helpless, defender of servants, and warns that those promises are being broken while He stands guard at Bali's door. The point is examination of how we picture God's favor, not contempt for Bali. And the last line is the surprise: God is pleased by the complaint, because it is the cry of one who wants Him near, not one who has given up on Him.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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