Surrender, the poet as instrument
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करितों कवित्व ह्मणाल हें कोणी । नव्हे माझी वाणी पदरींची ॥1॥
माझिये युक्तीचा नव्हे हा प्रकार । मज विश्वंभर बोलवितो ॥ध्रु.॥
काय मी पामर जाणे अर्थभेद । वदवी गोविंद तें चि वदें ॥2॥
निमित्त मापासी बैसविलों आहें । मी तों कांहीं नव्हे स्वामिसत्ता ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आहें पाईक चि खरा । वागवितों मुद्रा नामाची हे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If anyone says I compose poetry, these words are not my own; they do not come from my own store. This manner of things does not arise from my own skill. Vishvambhara Himself makes me speak. What do I, a wretch, know of the layers of meaning? What Govinda inspires, that alone I utter. I am placed here as an instrument at the scales. I am nothing; the power belongs to the Lord alone. Says Tuka, I am truly a foot-soldier, nothing more, carrying the seal of His Name.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If anyone says I compose poetry, know that these words are not mine; they do not come from my own store. This is not the work of my skill. Vishvambhara Himself makes me speak. What does a wretch like me know of the layers of meaning? What Govinda makes me say, that alone I say. I am only set here as the scale's pointer; I am nothing, the power is the Lord's. Tuka says: I am truly only a foot-soldier, carrying the seal of His Name.
What it means
Tukaram is refusing the credit for his own poems. He insists the words are not his property and do not come from his talent; it is Vishvambhara, the all-sustainer, who speaks through him. He pleads ignorance of the deep meanings the verses carry, saying he only utters what Govinda inspires. The images make the point sharp: he is the needle on the weighing scale, moved by the load, not the owner of the power; he is a foot-soldier who merely carries the seal of the Name. The poem hands all authorship back to God.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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