Nature of God, the great Lord made easy
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एवढा प्रभु भावें । तेणें संपुष्टी राहावें ॥1॥
होय भक्तीं केला तैसा । पुरवी धरावी ते इच्छा ॥ध्रु.॥
एवढा जगदानी। मागे तुळसीदळ पाणी ॥2॥
आला नांवा रूपा । तुका ह्मणे जाला सोपा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
So great a Lord, yet He is content through devotion alone. He becomes whatever His devotee makes Him; He fulfills the wish that is held. So mighty a giver to the world, yet He asks only for a tulsi leaf and water. Says Tuka, He has taken name and form and become easy to reach.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
So great a Lord, yet through devotion He will stay shut up small. He becomes whatever His devotee makes Him; He fulfills the wish that is held for Him. So vast a giver to the world, yet He asks for only a tulsi leaf and water. Tuka says: He has come into name and form, and so He has become easy.
What it means
Tukaram marvels at how the infinite makes itself small for love. The Lord who holds the whole world will let Himself be held in a tiny space, content with devotion alone, and will take whatever shape His devotee gives Him. The one who gives everything to the world asks in return only a leaf of tulsi and a little water, the offerings of the poor. The point lands in the last line: by taking on a name and a form, the unreachable God has made Himself easy to reach, which is the whole mercy of it.
The Nature of God
Explorations of God's character, power, grace, and relationship to the world.
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