The nature of God, the secret time cannot eat
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काळें खादला हा अवघा आकार । उत्पित्तसंहारघडमोडी ॥१॥
वीज तो अंकुर आच्छादिला पोटीं । अनंता सेवटीं एकाचिया ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे शब्दें व्यापिलें आकाश । गुढार हें तैसें कळों नये ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Time has devoured every form through the cycle of creation and destruction. The seed, the sprout, is concealed in the belly of the Infinite One from beginning to end. Says Tuka, sound pervades the sky, yet its secret remains beyond understanding.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Time has eaten every form. Creation rises and is destroyed, made and unmade. The seed, the sprout, lies hidden in the belly of the Infinite One, from first to last, in him alone. Tuka says: sound fills the whole sky. This mystery is like that. It cannot be grasped.
What it means
Tukaram is pointing at what stands behind all change. Every shape that appears is devoured by time through the endless turning of creation and dissolution; nothing made survives. Yet the seed of all of it stays hidden in the Infinite One, from beginning to end, present in that One alone. The final image carries the weight: as sound pervades the whole sky and yet cannot be seized in the hand, this mystery is everywhere and still beyond the mind's grasp.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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