Nature of God, every superlative belongs to him
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चांगला तरी पूर्णकाम । गोड तरी याचें चि नाम । दयाळ तरी अवघा धर्म । भला तरी दासा श्रम होऊं नेदी ॥1॥
उदार तरी लक्ष्मीयेसी । जुंझार तरी किळकाळासी । चतुर तरी गुणांची च रासी । जाणता तयासी तो एक ॥ध्रु.॥
जुनाट तरी बहु काळा । न कळे जयाची लीळा । नेणता गोवळीं गोवळा । लाघवी अवळाभुलवणा ॥2॥
खेळतो येणें चि खेळावा । नट तो येणें चि आवगावा। लपोनि जीवीं न कळे जीवा । धरितां देवा नातुडेसी ॥4॥
उंच तरी बहुत चि उंच । नीच तरी बहुत चि नीच । तुका ह्मणे बोलिलों साच। नाहीं अहाच पूजा केली ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If one speaks of someone truly excellent, He is perfectly fulfilled. If one speaks of sweetness, His Name alone is sweet. If one speaks of compassion, He is all righteousness. If one speaks of goodness, He does not let His servants suffer. If one speaks of generosity, His is the generosity that Lakshmi herself serves. If one speaks of a warrior, He fights Death itself. If one speaks of cleverness, He is a treasury of virtues. The one who truly knows, He alone is that one. If one speaks of ancientness, He is older than time, His play beyond comprehension. Among the cowherds, He was an innocent cowherd; yet He is the most skillful trickster and enchanter. He plays the game only in this manner. He is such an actor. Hiding within the soul, He is unknown to the soul itself; when you try to grasp Him, He eludes you. If one speaks of height, He is immeasurably high. If one speaks of lowliness, He is immeasurably low. Says Tuka, I have spoken the truth; this is no flattering worship.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If you speak of the excellent, he is the one whose every wish is full. If you speak of sweetness, only his Name is sweet. If you speak of mercy, he is righteousness itself. If you speak of goodness, he will not let his servant grow tired. If you speak of generosity, his is the giving that Lakshmi herself waits on. If you speak of a warrior, he fights Death itself. If you speak of cleverness, he is a heap of all virtues. The one who truly knows him, he alone is that knower. If you speak of what is ancient, he is older than all time, and his play cannot be understood. Among the cowherds he was an innocent cowherd, yet he is the most skillful trickster and enchanter. He plays the game only in his own way. He is such an actor. Hidden inside the soul, he is unknown to the soul itself; when you try to grasp him, he slips away. If you speak of height, he is far the highest. If you speak of lowliness, he is far the lowest. Tuka says: I have spoken the truth; this is no empty flattering worship.
What it means
Tukaram runs through one virtue after another and finds that every superlative ends in God: the highest excellence, the only real sweetness, mercy, generosity, courage against Death, cleverness, antiquity, all of them are simply names for him. The poem then catches the paradox at the heart of this God. He is the simple cowherd and the supreme enchanter at once; hidden so deep within the soul that the soul cannot find him, and slipping away the moment you grasp at him; and he is both the very highest and the very lowest. The closing line guards against misreading: this is not flattery heaped on a favorite deity. Tukaram is reporting what he has seen, that there is nothing real left over once you have named God in all these ways.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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