Abhanga 4494
Tukaram teaches that God's form is truly one, but out of love he appears differently to each devotee according to the relationship that is most real and meaningful to their own heart.
The verse
मनें हरिरूपीं गुंतल्या वासना । उदास या सुना गौळियांच्या ॥१॥
यांच्या भ्रतारांचीं धरूनियां रूपें । त्यांच्या घरीं त्यांपें भोग करी ॥२॥
करी कवतुक त्याचे तयापरी । एकां दिसे हरि एकां लेंक ॥३॥
एक भाव नाहीं सकळांच्या चित्ती । म्हणऊनि प्रीति तैसें रूप ॥४॥
रूप याचें आहे अवघें चि एक । परि कवतुक दाखविलें ॥५॥
लेंकरूं न कळे स्थूल कीं लहान । खेळे नारायण कवतुकें ॥६॥
कवतुक केलें सोंग बहुरूप । तुका म्हणे बाप जगाचा हा ॥७॥
Literal translation
Mind-with-vāsanā-in-Hari-rūpa-bound — gauḷīs'-sunās-udāsa. Takes-bhratāras'-rūpa — bhōga-at-their-house. Performs-kautuka-each-as-their-bhāva — some-Hari-some-son. One-bhāva-not-all — prīti-as-rūpa. Rūpa-truly-one — kautuka-displayed. Child-not-known-big-or-small — Nārāyaṇa-plays-kautukē. Bahu-rūpa-mask — Tukā: bāpa-of-jaga.
What it means
A 7-verse yamak-bandha continuation — bahurūpa-līla. The doctrine: the Lord's rūpa is truly one — but he displays kautuka (sportive-play) in multiple forms — each-bhakta-perceives-him-as-their-own-bhāva-dictates (Hari-or-son-or-husband-or-master). The bhakti-pluralism: one-bhāva-is-not-in-everyone's-chitta — so prīti-takes-different-rūpa. The Lord-as-bahu-rūpa-bāpa-of-jaga is the foundational sambandha-doctrine (one-Lord-many-relations). Pair with 4493 (prthak-Deva — preceding chain), 4497 (Krṣṇa-here-Krṣṇa-there continuation).
For someone today
Tukaram says that God's true form is really just one, but he plays out that oneness differently depending on each person's heart, appearing to some as the Lord, to others as a beloved child, and to others in whatever relationship their love takes. He explains this happens because not everyone holds the same feeling toward the divine, so love itself shapes the form each person sees. This is not deception, it is generosity, the same one reality meeting each devotee exactly through the relationship that is most real to them. Tukaram closes by calling this playful, many-formed presence simply the father of the whole world.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की देवाचे खरे रूप एकच आहे, पण तो त्या एकत्वाला प्रत्येकाच्या मनानुसार वेगवेगळ्या प्रकारे प्रकट करतो, कोणाला तो देव म्हणून दिसतो, कोणाला लाडक्या मुलासारखा, तर कोणाला त्यांच्या प्रेमाच्या नात्याप्रमाणे वेगळ्याच रूपात. ते स्पष्ट करतात की असे होते कारण सर्वांच्या मनात देवाबद्दलची भावना सारखी नसते, त्यामुळे प्रेमच प्रत्येकाला दिसणारे रूप घडवते. हे फसवणूक नाही, तर औदार्य आहे, तेच एक सत्य प्रत्येक भक्ताला त्याच्यासाठी सर्वात खरे असलेल्या नात्यातून भेटते. तुकाराम शेवटी या खेळकर, अनेक-रूपी उपस्थितीला साध्या शब्दांत जगाचा पिता म्हणतात.
Where this applies
- When you notice that your relationship with God feels different from how someone else describes theirs
- When you wonder why the divine seems to show up differently in different people's lives
- When you feel your own particular way of relating to God, whether as protector, friend, or something else, might not be the right way
- When you want reassurance that one underlying truth can meet many different people through many different relationships