Wonder, God's varied creation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पाहा हो देवा कैसे जन । भिन्न भिन्न संचितें ॥1॥
एक नाहीं एका ऐसें । दावी कैसे शुद्ध हीन ॥ध्रु.॥
पंचभूतें एकी रासी । सूत्रें कैसीं खेळवी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जे जे जाती । तैसी िस्थति येतसे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Behold, O God, how varied are these beings, each with a different destiny. No two are alike; You display the pure and the lowly in every shade. The five elements form a single heap, yet You make them dance on different strings. Says Tuka, whatever class one belongs to, that is the condition one receives.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Look, O God, how varied these people are. Each carries a different store of past deeds. No two are alike. You show the pure and the lowly, every shade of them. The five elements lie in one heap, yet You make them dance on different strings. Tuka says: whatever class one is born into, that is the condition that comes.
What it means
Tukaram is marveling at how one God produces such endless difference among beings. The raw material is the same for everyone, the same five elements piled together, yet each life turns out pure or lowly, in its own shade. He points to the hand behind it: God pulls the strings and makes the elements dance into all these forms and fates. The closing line names the order Tukaram sees, that the condition each person receives matches the store of deeds and the station they come with.
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