Surrender, ignorance as refuge
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नेणे गति काय कवण अधोगति । मानिली नििंश्चती तुझ्या पायीं ॥1॥
कर्म धर्म कोण नेणें हा उपाव । तुझ्या पायीं भाव ठेवियेला ॥ध्रु.॥
नेणें निरसं पाप पुण्य नेणें काय । ह्मणऊनि पाय धरिले तुझे ॥2॥
वेडा मी अविचार न कळे विचार । तुज माझा भार पांडुरंगा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे तुज करितां नव्हे काय । माझा तो उपाय कवण तेथें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not know the nature of salvation or what downfall means. I have placed my certainty at your feet. I know neither dharma nor ritual, nor any method or device. I have simply fixed my devotion upon your feet. I do not know detachment; I do not know sin or merit. That is precisely why I have held your feet, Panduranga. I am foolish and without discernment; understanding escapes me. My burden is yours. Says Tuka, is there anything you cannot do? What remedy could I possibly have apart from you?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not know the way up or what the way down is. I have set my certainty at your feet. I know no rite, no duty, no method. I have placed my trust on your feet alone. I do not know detachment; I do not know sin or merit. That is why I have held your feet, Panduranga. I am foolish, without judgment; understanding escapes me. My burden is yours. Tuka says: is there anything you cannot do? What remedy of my own could there be?
What it means
Tukaram turns his own ignorance into his argument for surrender. He does not know the paths of salvation or downfall, does not know ritual, detachment, sin, or merit; far from hiding this, he makes it the reason he clings to God's feet. If he could manage the way himself, he would not need to. By saying the burden is now God's, he hands over responsibility for an outcome he admits he cannot steer. The final question, is there anything you cannot do, places everything on God's capacity and nothing on his own technique.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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