Adoration, the formless God made visible
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लक्षूनियां योगी पाहाती आभास । तें दिसे आह्मांस दृष्टीपुढें ॥1॥
कर दोनी कटी राहिलासे उभा । सांवळी हे प्रभा अंगकांती ॥ध्रु.॥
व्यापूनि वेगळें राहिलेंसे दुरी । सकळां अंतरीं निविनकार ॥2॥
रूप नाहीं रेखा नाम ही जयासी । आपुला मानसीं शिव ध्याय ॥3॥
अंत नाहीं पार वर्णा नाहीं थार । कुळ याति शिर हस्त पाद ॥4॥
अचेत चेतलें भक्ताचिया सुखें । आपुल्या कौतुकें तुका ह्मणे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What the yogis strain to perceive through meditation appears before our eyes in plain sight. He stands with both hands on His waist, a dark-hued radiance upon His body. He pervades all yet remains apart, dwelling within every being, beyond all change. He has no form, no outline, no name of His own; yet Shiva himself meditates upon Him within his heart. He has no end, no limit, no station for any color or class, no head, no hands, no feet that can be grasped. The insentient has come alive for the joy of His devotees. Says Tuka, this is His own delightful play.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What the yogis strain to glimpse in meditation stands plainly before our eyes. He stands with both hands on his waist, a dark radiance shining from his body. He fills everything, yet stays apart and far off; he lives inside every being, and nothing changes him. He has no form, no outline, no name of his own; yet Shiva himself meditates on him in his heart. He has no end, no edge, no place for caste or class, no head, no hands, no feet you can grasp. The unmoving has stirred to life for the joy of his devotees. Tuka says: this is his own delightful play.
What it means
Tukaram is holding two truths about God at once. On one side is the formless absolute that the yogis can barely sense and that even Shiva meditates upon: without form, name, limit, caste, or body, pervading all yet untouched by all. On the other side is Vithoba standing on the brick at Pandhari, hands on his waist, dark and radiant, visible to ordinary eyes. The poem's wonder is that these are the same one. The boundless, changeless reality has taken a shape and come alive, and Tukaram insists this is not a lessening but the Lord's own free play, undertaken for the sheer joy of his devotees.
The Nature of God
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