God as tender Mother, want abolished
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवा तूं आमचा कृपाळ । भक्तीप्रतिपाळ दीनवत्सळ । माय तूं माउली स्नेहाळ । भार सकळ चालविसी ॥1॥
तुज लागली सकळ चिंता । राखणें लागे वांकडें जातां । पुडती निरविसी संतां । नव्हे विसंबतां धीर तुज ॥2॥
आह्मां भय चिंता नाहीं धाक जन्म मरण कांहीं एक । जाला इहलोकीं परलोक । आलें सकळैकवैकुंठ ॥3॥
न कळे दिवस कीं राती । अखंड लागलीसे ज्योती । आनंदलहरीची गती । वणून कीर्ती तया सुखा ॥4॥
तुझिया नामाचीं भूषणें । तों यें मज लेवविलीं लेणें । तुका ह्मणे तुझियान गुणें । काय तें उणें एक आह्मां ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O God, You are our compassionate protector of devotion, lover of the lowly, tender mother full of affection. You bear the entire burden and carry it forward. All concern falls upon You. You must watch over us when we stray, and You entrust us again to the saints. You cannot bear to leave us unattended for even a moment. We have no fear, no anxiety, no dread of birth or death. The other world has merged into this one, and all of Vaikuntha has arrived here. Day and night cannot be distinguished; an unbroken flame of light blazes constantly. The waves of bliss are beyond description, and that joy surpasses all praise. You have adorned me with the ornaments of Your Name, bestowing precious jewels upon me. Says Tuka, by Your virtues, what could we possibly lack?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God, you are merciful to us, protector of devotion, tender to the lowly. You are our mother, the loving one who nurses us. You carry the whole load forward. All the care has become yours. You must guard us when we go crooked, and you hand us over again to the saints. You cannot bear to leave us alone for even a moment. We have no fear, no worry, no dread, none at all, of birth or of death. The other world has merged into this one; all of Vaikuntha has come here. Day cannot be told apart from night; an unbroken flame of light burns steadily. The waves of bliss are beyond telling, and that joy is past all praise. You have dressed me in the ornaments of your Name and laid those jewels on me. Tuka says: by your goodness, what one thing could we lack?
What it means
Here God is cast above all as the nursing Mother who shoulders the entire burden of her child's life, including the duty of correcting him when he strays. Because that care is wholly God's, the devotee is released from the two great fears, birth and death. Tukaram describes the result as heaven collapsing into the present: Vaikuntha has arrived here, day and night blur into one unbroken light, and bliss runs past anything words can hold. The Name itself is the jewelry God has put on him. The closing question is rhetorical and complete: under such care, nothing whatever is missing.
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