Nature of God, love beyond a parent's
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मायबापें सांभािळती । लोभाकारणें पािळती ॥1॥
तैसा नव्हे देवराव । याचा कृपाळु स्वभाव ॥ध्रु.॥
मनासारिखें न होतां । बाळकासी मारी माता ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सांगूं किती । बाप लेंकासी मारिती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Worldly parents care for and protect their children out of self-interest and attachment. But God the King is not like that. His nature is pure compassion. When a child does not obey, the mother strikes it. Says Tuka, how much can I explain? Fathers too beat their sons. But God is different from all of this.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Worldly parents look after their children and raise them out of self-interest and attachment. God the King is not like that; His nature is pure compassion. When the child does not do as she wishes, the mother strikes it. Tuka says, how much can I tell you, fathers too beat their sons. But God is not like this.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts human love with God's by being honest about the human side. Even parents, the usual image of selfless care, love their children partly out of attachment and self-interest, and when crossed they strike, mothers and fathers alike. He does not romanticize them; he names the limit in their love. Against this he sets God the King, whose very nature is compassion that is not mixed with self-interest and does not turn to anger when disobeyed. The point is that the love we most trust on earth is still conditional, and only God's love is wholly and freely kind.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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