Surrender, lay your burden on God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भार घालीं देवा । न लगे देश डोई घ्यावा ॥1॥
देह प्रारब्धा अधीन । सोसें अधिक वाढे सीण ॥ध्रु.॥
व्यवसाय निमित्त। फळ देतसे संचित ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे फिरे । भोंवडीनें दम जिरे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Place your burden upon God; there is no need to carry the load on your own head. The body is subject to destiny; straining against it only increases suffering. Effort is merely the occasion; it is accumulated karma that yields the fruit. Says Tuka, wandering in circles only exhausts your breath.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Lay your burden on God. You need not carry the load on your own head. The body is bound to its destiny; struggling against it only swells the pain. Effort is just the occasion; it is stored karma that gives the fruit. Tuka says: spinning in circles only burns up your breath.
What it means
Tukaram is counseling release from the strain of self-reliance. He tells you to set your burden on God rather than balance it on your own head, because the body lives under its destiny and fighting that destiny only multiplies the suffering. He is not denying effort; he calls it the occasion, the outward act. But the fruit comes from accumulated karma, not from the straining itself. The closing image is sharp: to whirl about in anxious activity is to wear out your own breath for nothing.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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