God credits his servants, the wildfire survived
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भाव दावी शुद्ध देखोनियां चित्त । आपल्या अंकित निजदासां ॥1॥
सांगे गोपाळांसि काय पुण्य होतें । वांचलों जळते आगी हातीं ॥2॥
आजि आह्मां येथें राखियेलें देवें । नाहीं तरी जीवें न वंचतों ॥3॥
न वंचत्या गाई जळतों सकळें । पूर्वपुण्यबळें वांचविलें ॥4॥
पूर्वपुण्य होतें तुमचिये गांठी । बोले जगजेठी गोपाळांसि ॥5॥
गोपाळांसि ह्मणे वैकुंठनायक । भले तुह्मी एक पुण्यवंत ॥6॥
करी तुका ह्मणे करवी आपण । द्यावें थोरपण सेवकांसि ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God reveals the pure truth to those whose chittas are clean, to His own devoted servants. He tells the cowherds, 'What good fortune you must have had! We were saved from that burning fire.' 'Today God has protected us here. Otherwise, we would not have survived.' 'The cows and all of us would have perished. It was the power of your past merits that saved us.' 'You had great merit stored within you,' says the Lord of Vaikuntha to the cowherds. 'You are truly blessed and virtuous,' He tells them. Says Tuka, He acts and He makes others act. He gives the credit to His servants.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Seeing the heart clean, he shows the truth to his own marked servants. He says to the cowherds, what merit you must have had; we have come alive out of the burning fire. Today God has saved us here; otherwise we would not have escaped with our lives. The cows and all of us were burning; the strength of your past merit saved us. You had past merit stored in your bundle, says the Lord of the world to the cowherds. You cowherds are good, each one of you full of merit, says the Lord of Vaikuntha. Tuka says: he does it and he makes it done himself, yet he gives the greatness to his servants.
What it means
Tukaram shows God's humility after the fire he himself put out. Krishna, who swallowed the wildfire, turns to the cowherds and tells them it was their own past merit that saved them, calling them blessed and good. The point is in the last line: God is the one who acts and the one who makes everything happen, yet he hands the credit to his servants. Tukaram is naming a pattern in how God treats those he loves, lifting them up rather than claiming the glory. It invites the devotee to recognize that even our merit and our rescue are finally his doing, given back to us as a gift.
Krishna Leela
Poems celebrating Krishna's birth, childhood, and divine play.
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