Nature of God, the mother who shelters
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लाभ पुढें करी । घात नारायण वारी ॥1॥
ऐसी भक्ताची माउली । करी कृपेची साउली ॥ध्रु.॥
माय बाळकासी । जीव भाव वेची तैसी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाड । नाहीं शरणागता आड ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Narayana places gain before His devotees and wards off their harm. Such is the mother-love of devotion; He shelters them in the shade of His grace. As a mother gives her very life and jiva for her child, so does He. Says Tuka, there is no obstacle that can bar the way of one who has surrendered.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Narayana puts gain in front of his devotee and turns harm away. Such is the mother-love of devotion. He makes a shade of his grace. As a mother spends her very life and being on her child, so does he. Tuka says: there is no trap, no obstacle, that can block the one who has surrendered.
What it means
Tukaram describes how God treats the one who loves him, and the whole image is maternal. Narayana places good before the devotee and wards off what would harm, spreading the shade of his grace over them. The comparison is a mother who pours out her own life and heart for her child, holding nothing back; God's care is that total. The point is that devotion is met by a love that protects, not by indifference. And the closing line gives the assurance: for the one who has truly surrendered, nothing can stand in the way, because the protection is the protector's own doing, not the devotee's strength.
The Nature of God
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