Nature of God, the infinite giver
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माझें मागणें तें किती । दाता लक्ष्मीचा पति ॥1॥
तान्हेल्यानें पीतां पाणी । तेणें गंगा नव्हे उणी ॥ध्रु.॥
कल्पतरु जाला देता । तेथें पोटाचा मागता ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे संतां ध्यातां । परब्रह्म आलें हाता ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
How small is my asking, when the giver is the Lord of Lakshmi Himself? When a thirsty man drinks water, is the Ganga thereby diminished? When the wish-fulfilling tree becomes the giver, who before it is merely a beggar for bread? Says Tuka, by meditating on the saints, the Supreme Brahman comes into one's hands.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How small is my asking, when the giver is the Lord of Lakshmi himself? When a thirsty man drinks his water, the Ganga is not made any less. When the wish-granting tree itself becomes the giver, who would stand before it begging only for a bellyful? Tuka says: by meditating on the saints, the Supreme Brahman comes into your hands.
What it means
Tukaram measures his small request against the boundlessness of the one he asks. The giver is the Lord of Lakshmi, so infinitely rich that one man's request takes nothing from him, just as a thirsty drinker does not shrink the Ganga. Before a wish-granting tree, it would be foolish to beg only for food; the giver can grant far more. He closes with where the real treasure lies: by dwelling on the saints, the Supreme Brahman itself comes into one's hands.
The Nature of God
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