Devotion, the lover knows the thief
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझें अंगभूत । आह्मी जाणतों समस्त ॥1॥
येरा वाटतसे जना । गुढारसें नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥
ठावा थारा मारा । परचिया संव चोरा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भेदा । करुनि करितों संवादा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We know all that belongs to Your very nature, O Narayana. To others it appears mysterious and secret. We know the thief's haunt, his hideout, and his ways. Says Tuka, though I create distinctions, it is only to carry on this conversation with You.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We know all that belongs to Your very nature, Narayana. To other people You seem hidden and full of riddles. We know the thief's haunt, his hiding place, his ways. Tuka says: I make distinctions only so that I can keep up this conversation with You.
What it means
Tukaram speaks from the intimacy of one who has come close to God. To the crowd, Narayana is a mystery, a tangle of riddles; to the devotee He is as known as a familiar thief whose hideout and habits are no secret. The playful image confesses how God steals into the heart and is caught by the one who loves Him. In the last line Tuka admits that the very talk of You and me, the keeping of distinctions, is something he sets up on purpose, only so the conversation can go on; he knows the separation is not finally real. The mood is teasing closeness, not doctrine.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →