Mythology, God comes running
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सुख वाटे तुझे वणिनतां पवाडे । प्रेम मिठी पडे वदनासी ॥1॥
व्याले दोन्ही पक्षी एका वृक्षावरी । आला दुराचारी पारधी तो ॥ध्रु.॥
वृक्षाचिया माथां सोडिला ससाना । धनुष्यासि बाणा लावियेलें ॥2॥
तये काळीं तुज पक्षी आठविती । धांवें गा श्रीपती मायबापा ॥3॥
उडोनियां जातां ससाना मारील । बैसतां विंधील पारधी तो ॥4॥
ऐकोनियां धांवा तया पिक्षयांचा । धरिला सर्पाचा वेश वेगीं ॥5॥
डंखोनि पारधी भुमीसि पाडिला । बाण तो लागला ससान्यासी ॥6॥
ऐसा तूं कृपाळु आपुलिया दासा । होसील कोंवसा संकटींचा ॥7॥
तुका ह्मणे तुझी कीतिन त्रिभुवना । वेदाचिये वाणी वर्णवेना ॥8॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It delights me to recount your glorious deeds; love itself seals my lips. Two birds nested on a single tree, and a wicked hunter arrived. He released a hawk from the treetop and fitted an arrow to his bow. In that moment the birds cried out to you: come quickly, O Lord, our mother and father. If they flew, the hawk would kill them; if they stayed, the hunter would pierce them. Hearing the desperate cry of those birds, you swiftly took the form of a serpent. You bit the hunter and felled him to the ground, and the hawk too was struck by the arrow. Such is your mercy toward your own devotees; you become a shelter in their hour of peril. Says Tuka, your glory fills the three worlds; even the voice of the Vedas cannot describe it fully.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It gives me joy to tell your great deeds. Love itself seals my lips. Two birds had nested in one tree, and a wicked hunter came. He loosed a hawk from above the tree and fitted an arrow to his bow. In that moment the birds remembered you: come quickly, Shripati, our mother and father. If they flew, the hawk would kill them; if they stayed, the hunter would pierce them. Hearing the cry of those birds, you swiftly took the form of a serpent. You bit the hunter and felled him to the ground, and the arrow struck the hawk instead. Such is your mercy to your own servants. You become their shelter in the hour of danger. Tuka says: your glory fills the three worlds; even the speech of the Vedas cannot tell it in full.
What it means
Tukaram retells a rescue story to show what kind of God he serves. Two birds are trapped with no way out: a hawk above, a hunter and his arrow below, death on either side. They have nothing to do but cry out to God as mother and father, and that cry is enough. God takes a serpent's form on the instant, bites down the hunter and turns the arrow onto the hawk, so that both threats fall at once. The point is not the marvel but the mercy: this is how He shelters those who are wholly helpless and call on Him. Tuka adds that such glory is past all telling, beyond even the Vedas.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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