Nature of God, one without division
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अद्वय चि द्वय जालें चि कारण । धरिलें नारायणें भक्तिसुख ॥1॥
अपरोक्ष आकार जाला चतुर्भुज । एकतत्त्व बीज भिन्न नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
शून्य निरशुन्यी राहिलें निर्मळ । तें दिसे केवळ इटेवरी ॥2॥
सुखें घ्यावें नाम वदना ही चाड । सरिता वापी आड एक पाणी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे मी च आहें तेणें सुखें । भेद नाहीं मुखें नाम गातों ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The non-dual has become dual for the sake of creation. Narayana has embraced the joy of devotion. The formless has taken the visible four-armed form. The one essence, the one seed, admits no division. The pure and spotless void rests upon the brick at Pandhari. Joyfully take His name on your tongue. Rivers, wells, and tanks all hold the same water. Says Tuka, I myself exist by that very bliss. There is no difference. I sing the Name with my lips.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The non-dual became two for the sake of creation. Narayana took on the joy of being loved. The formless took the visible four-armed form, yet the one seed, the one essence, has no division in it. The pure, spotless void rests there upon the brick. Take His name gladly on your tongue. Rivers, wells, and tanks all hold one water. Tuka says: I myself exist by that very bliss. There is no difference; I sing the Name with my lips.
What it means
Tukaram holds together two things that seem to clash: God is one without a second, yet here He stands as a visible form. The One appeared as two for the sake of creation, and the formless Narayana took a four-armed shape so that love could be exchanged, but the seed and essence stay undivided. That spotless absolute is what rests on the brick at Pandhari, so taking His name is touching the One. His image makes it plain: rivers, wells, and tanks look separate but hold a single water; he himself lives by that one bliss, and seeing no real division, he simply sings the Name.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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