Nature of God, mine and mine
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आहे तें सकळ कृष्णा चि अर्पण । न कळतां मन दुजें भावी ॥१॥
म्हणउनी पाठी लागतील भूतें । येती गवसीत पांचजणें ॥ध्रु.॥
ज्याचे त्या वंचलें आठव न होतां । दंड या निमित्ताकारणें हा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे काळें चेंपियेला गळा । मी मी वेळोवेळा करीतसे ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All that exists is already offered to Krishna alone. Not knowing this, the mind takes it to be its own. Therefore the five elements come seeking you, ghosts on your trail. You have cheated the true Owner of what is his; this forgetfulness itself draws punishment. Tuka says: Death has squeezed the throat, and still, mine, mine, again and again.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Everything there is has already been offered to Krishna alone. Not knowing this, the mind takes it to be its own. So the five elements come hunting you, like ghosts on your trail. You have cheated the rightful Owner of what is his, and that very forgetting is what brings the punishment. Tuka says: Death already has its grip on your throat, and still you keep saying, mine, mine, again and again.
What it means
A sharp warning about ownership. Everything belongs to God and was always his; the mind's error is to forget this and call things its own. Tukaram pictures the consequences as creditors: the five elements that make up the body come to reclaim what was borrowed, like ghosts dogging a debtor. To treat God's property as your own is theft, and the forgetting is the crime that draws the penalty. The closing image is unforgettable: even with Death's hand already closing on the throat, the unawakened person is still clutching and crying mine, mine. Possessiveness outlasts almost everything.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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