Union, devotee and God are not two
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भोगिला गोपिकां यादवां सकळां । गौळणीगोपाळां गाईवत्सां ॥1॥
गाती धणीवरी केला अंगसंग । पाहिला श्रीरंग डोळेभरि ॥2॥
भक्ति नवविधा तयांसि घडली । अवघीं च केली कृष्णरूप ॥3॥
रूप दाखविलें होतां भिन्न भाव । भक्त आणि देव भिन्न नाहीं ॥4॥
नाहीं राहों दिलें जातां निजधामा । तुका ह्मणे आह्मांसहित गेला ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
That bliss was tasted by the gopis, the Yadavas, the milkmaids, the cowherds, and the cows and calves. They sang to their full satisfaction and held Him close. They gazed upon Shrirangam to the full. The ninefold devotion was fulfilled in them. All were made into the form of Krishna. He revealed His form even through the appearance of separation. Devotee and God are not two. When He departed for His eternal abode, says Tuka, He did not leave us behind. He took us with Him.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
That joy was tasted by the gopis, by all the Yadavas, by the milkmaids and the cowherds, by the cows and the calves. They sang to their heart's fill and held Him close. They gazed their fill on Shrirang. The ninefold devotion was made whole in them. All of them were turned into the form of Krishna. Even in the look of being separate, He showed His own form. Devotee and God are not two. When He left for His eternal home, Tuka says: He did not leave us behind. He took us with Him.
What it means
Tukaram is describing how complete the union with Krishna can be, using the company at Gokul as the proof. The gopis, the cowherds, even the cows and calves did not just worship from a distance; they sang, embraced Him, gazed at Him, and through that the ninefold path of devotion came to its fullness. The result he names is startling: all of them were made into the form of Krishna. So the apparent gap between worshipper and worshipped dissolves, and devotee and God turn out not to be two. The last claim seals it: when Krishna returned to His own abode, He did not abandon His people but carried them with Him.
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