Nature of God, grace turns poison to nectar
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ध्यानी योगीराज बैसले कपाटीं । लागे पाठोवाटीं तयांचिया ॥१॥
तान भुक त्यांचें राखे शीत उष्ण । जाले उदासीन देहभाव ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण सखें तयां आणीक सोयरें । असे त्यां दुसरें हरीविण ॥२॥
कोण सुख त्यांच्या जीवासि आनंद । नाहीं राज्यमद घडी तयां ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे विष अमृता समान । कृपा नारायण करितां होय ॥४॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Great yogis sit in meditation behind closed doors, and God follows them even there. He tends to their hunger and thirst and watches over their hunger, thirst, heat, and cold, for they have become indifferent to the body. Who else is their friend or relative besides Hari? What other joy gladdens their souls? They have no attachment to kingly power, not even for a moment. Says Tuka, when Narayana shows his grace, even poison becomes nectar.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Great yogis sit in meditation behind closed doors, and God follows close on their path. He keeps their hunger and thirst, watches over their cold and heat, for they have grown indifferent to the body. What friend, what kin, do they have other than Hari? They have no second one. What joy gladdens their souls? Not for a moment is there the pride of a kingdom in them. Tuka says: poison becomes the same as nectar when Narayana shows his grace.
What it means
Tukaram describes the renunciate yogis and the God who tends them. They sit shut away in meditation, having grown indifferent to the body, and God does not leave them to fend for themselves: he follows behind and looks after their hunger, thirst, cold, and heat. Their company is narrowed to one. Hari is their only friend and only kin, and the pride of power or kingdom never touches them even for a moment. The final line names what makes this possible. When Narayana pours out grace, even poison turns into nectar, so what would harm anyone else becomes, for them, the very thing that sustains.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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