God's grace, the unlikely are saved
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पाहा कैसेकैसे । देवें उद्धरिले आनयासें ॥1॥
ऐका नवल्याची ठेव । नेणतां भक्तिभाव ॥ध्रु.॥
कैलासासी नेला । भिल्ल पानेडी बैसला ॥2॥
पांखांच्या फडत्कारीं । उद्धरुनी नेली घारी ॥3॥
खेचरें पिंडी दिला पाव । त्या पूजनें धाये देव ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे भोळा । स्वामी माझा हो कोंवळा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
See how God has effortlessly delivered so many. Hear this treasure of wonder: even without knowing devotion, they were saved. A tribal hunter who simply sat offering leaves was taken to Kailasa. A hawk was delivered by the flapping of its wings. A bird offered a morsel from its body, and God was pleased by that worship. Says Tuka, my Lord is tender and innocent.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Look how, how easily, God has lifted so many up. Hear this store of wonders: even those who did not know devotion were saved. A tribal hunter who only sat offering leaves was carried to Kailasa. A hawk was delivered by the beating of its wings. A small creature gave a morsel from its own body, and God was filled by that worship. Tuka says: my Lord is simple. He is tender.
What it means
Tukaram marvels at how easily God rescues even those with no claim to it. His point is that grace does not wait for skilled or learned devotion: people who did not even know devotion were still saved. He names wonders to prove it, a forest hunter who did nothing but sit and offer leaves yet was taken to Kailasa, a hawk lifted by the mere flapping of its wings, a small creature whose tiny offering of itself satisfied God. The thread through all of them is that the offering was poor and the giver unqualified, yet God received it fully. He ends by naming what makes this possible: his Lord is simple-hearted and tender, easily won by the smallest sincere gift.
The Nature of God
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