Praise of God's nature, the burden laid down
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवा तूं कृपाकरुणासिंधु । होसी मायबाप आमचा बंधु। जीवनसििद्ध साधनसिंधु । तोडिसी भवबंधु काळपाश ॥1॥
शरणागता वज्रपंजर । अभयदाना तूं उदार । सकळां देवां तूं अगोचर । होसी अविकार अविनाश ॥ध्रु.॥
भागली स्तुति करितां फार । तेथें मी काय तें गव्हार । जाणावया तुझा हा विचार । नको अंतर देऊं आतां ॥2॥
नेणें भाव परि ह्मणवीं तुझा । नेणें भक्ती परि करितों पूजा । आपुल्या नामाचिया काजा । तुज केशीराजा लागे धांवणें ॥3॥
तुझिया बळें पंढरीनाथा । जालों निर्भर तुटली व्यथा । घातला भार तुझिया माथां। न भीं सर्वथा तुका ह्मणे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O God, You are an ocean of grace and compassion, our mother, father, and brother. You are the ocean of fulfillment and the ocean of all means. You are the fulfillment of life, the ocean of all means. You sever the bonds of worldly existence and the noose of Death. For those who surrender, You are an adamantine fortress. In granting fearlessness, You are supremely generous. You are beyond the comprehension of all the gods, unchanging and imperishable. Even the greatest praises grow weary in singing of You. What then can a fool like me say? Do not keep me at a distance any longer from understanding Your nature. I do not know devotion, yet I call myself Yours. I do not know worship, yet I perform Your puja. For the sake of Your own Name, O Keshiraja, You must come running. By Your strength, O Lord of Pandhari, I have become carefree and my suffering has ended. Says Tuka, I have placed the burden upon Your head and fear nothing at all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God, you are an ocean of grace and mercy. You are our mother, father, and brother. You are the wealth of life, the ocean of every means. You break the bonds of worldly existence and the noose of Death. For those who surrender, you are a fortress of diamond. In giving fearlessness you are generous. You are beyond the reach of all the gods, changeless and undying. Even great praises grow tired in singing of you. What can a fool like me say? Do not keep me at a distance any longer. I do not know true feeling, yet I call myself yours. I do not know worship, yet I do your puja. For the sake of your own Name, Keshiraja, you must come running. By your strength, Lord of Pandhari, I have grown free of care and my pain has ended. I have laid the load upon your head. Tuka says: I fear nothing at all.
What it means
Tukaram piles up the names of God's nature, then uses them as leverage. If God is grace, refuge, mother and father, the one who cuts the noose of death, then that very reputation obliges him to come. The devotee admits he has no real feeling and no skill in worship, so his only claim is on God's side, not his own: God must act for the sake of his own Name. The poem's hinge is the transfer of weight. Having set the whole burden on God's head, Tukaram declares himself carefree and free of fear, because the responsibility is no longer his to carry.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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