Nature of God, He comes running
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हाकेसरिसी उडी । घालूनियां स्तंभ फोडी ॥1॥
ऐसी कृपावंत कोण । माझे विठाईवांचून ॥ध्रु.॥
करितां आठव । धांवोनियां घाली कव ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे गीती गातां । नामें द्यावी सायुज्यता ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
At the very first cry, He leaps forth and bursts open the pillar. Who is as compassionate as my Vitthai, my Mother? At the merest remembrance, He rushes forward and wraps you in His embrace. Says Tuka, to those who sing His glory, He grants the ultimate union through His Name alone.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
At the very first cry, He leaps and bursts open the pillar. Who is as kind as my Vithai, my Mother? At the least remembrance of Him, He comes running and folds you in His arms. Tuka says: to those who sing His glory, He gives full union through the Name alone.
What it means
Tukaram pictures God as a mother who cannot bear to delay. He recalls how at the child's cry the Lord tore open the pillar to save the devotee, and asks who could be more tender than this. The smallest act of remembrance is enough; God does not weigh worthiness but simply runs and gathers the one who calls into His embrace. The poem ends with the largest promise on the smallest condition: to those who merely sing His glory, the Name itself grants the final union with God.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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