God's sovereignty, the puppeteer behind the show
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तरी च हीं केलीं । दानें वाईट चांगलीं ॥1॥
येक येक शोभवावें । केलें कवतुक देवें ॥ध्रु.॥
काय त्याची सत्ता । सूत्र आणीक चािळता ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धुरें । डोळे भरिले परि खरें॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All these different gifts, both bad and good, were made for a reason: so that one might adorn the other. God has created this spectacle. What authority does any creature have? Another pulls the strings. Says Tuka, smoke may fill the eyes, but the truth remains.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
All these gifts were given for a reason, both the bad ones and the good. One was made to set off the other. God arranged this whole spectacle. What power does any creature have? Another hand pulls the strings. Tuka says: smoke may fill the eyes, but the truth still holds.
What it means
Tukaram is saying the whole spread of good and bad in the world is not random; it is a single arrangement, made so that one thing shows up against the other. Behind it all is God, who set the spectacle going. From this he draws the hard conclusion: no creature has any independent power of its own, because someone else is working the strings, the way a puppeteer moves the puppets. The smoke that fills the eyes is the confusion of appearances that makes us think we act on our own; under it, the truth of that one governing hand stays firm.
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