Nature of God, refuge that takes you in
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वैभवाचे धणी सकळां शरणागत । सत्यभावें चित्त अपिनलें तें ॥1॥
नेदी उरों देव आपणावेगळें । भावाचिया बळें ठायाठाव ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणोनि नेणोनि अंगा आली दशा । मग होय इच्छा आपणच ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे बरें धाकटएाचें जिणें । माता स्तनपानें वाढवते ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The master of all glory becomes a refuge to all. When the chitta is offered with sincerity, God does not let anything remain apart from Himself; by the force of devotion He fills every place. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, once the state comes upon you, He Himself becomes your very desire. Says Tuka, how beautiful is the life of the little one, for the mother nourishes it with her own milk.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The master of all glory becomes refuge to everyone. When the heart is offered in truth, God lets nothing of you stay apart from Him; by the force of devotion He fills every place. Knowing it or not knowing it, once the state comes upon you, He Himself becomes your desire. Tuka says: how good is the life of the little one, for the mother raises it on her own milk.
What it means
Tukaram describes the kind of God this is: the owner of all splendor, yet the one who makes Himself a shelter for all who come. Offer the heart sincerely and He leaves no part of you standing outside Himself; the strength of devotion fills every space until there is no separate you. Then, whether you understand it or not, once that state arrives, your own wanting is no longer yours, it is Him. The mother and her nursing infant carry it home: the little one need only depend, and the mother grows it from her own body.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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