Adoration, the tender guardian
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सिणलेती सेवकां देउनि इच्छादान । केला अभिमान अंगीकारा ॥१॥
अहो दीनानाथा आनंदमूर्ती । तुम्हांसि शोभती ब्रीदें ऐसीं ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुतांनीं विनविलें बहुतां प्रकारीं । सकळां ठायीं हरी पुरलेती ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे अगा कुटुंबवत्सळा । कोण तुझी लीळा जाणे ऐसी ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having granted each weary servant the gift of his heart's desire, you embraced them with the honor of your acceptance. O Lord of the lowly, O form of bliss, such titles truly become you. Many have prayed in many ways, and in every instance you have filled them to overflowing. Says Tuka, O tender guardian of your family, who can ever fathom your play?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You gave each weary servant the gift his heart desired, and you took them up as your own with honor. O Lord of the lowly, O form of bliss, such titles truly suit you. Many have prayed to you in many ways, and in every place you have filled them to overflowing. Tuka says: O tender guardian of your family, who can know your play as it truly is?
What it means
The poem praises God by what he does for the tired and the lowly: he grants each one his heart's desire and then accepts him with honor, not condescension. The titles Tukaram uses, Lord of the lowly and form of bliss, are earned by this conduct, not merely conferred. The breadth is the point: however differently people have prayed, none has gone away empty, and all have been filled past measure. The closing wonder names the mystery: a God who guards his devotees as tenderly as his own family acts by a play no one can fully fathom.
The Nature of God
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