Surrender, leaving it all to God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आदि वर्तमान जाणसी भविष्य । मागें पुढें नीस संचिताचा ॥1॥
आतां काय देऊं पायांपें परिहार । जाणां तो विचार करा देवा ॥ध्रु.॥
आपुलें तें येथें काय चाले केलें । जोडावे ते भले हात पुढें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे फिके बोल माझे वारा । कराल दातारा होईल तें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You know the past, the present, and the future, and the whole reckoning of accumulated deeds lies before you and behind. What offering can I now place at your feet? You alone know the right course, so act as you see fit, O God. Nothing that I do on my own avails here; the only gain is to fold my hands before you. Says Tuka, my words are feeble as wind, but whatever you will do, O generous Lord, that alone shall come to pass.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You know the beginning, the present, and what is to come. The whole account of past deeds lies behind and before you. What can I now offer at your feet to set things right? You know the true course; do as you see fit, O God. What use here is anything I do on my own? The only good thing is to fold my hands before you. Tuka says: my words are feeble as wind. Whatever you choose to do, O generous Lord, that alone will happen.
What it means
Tukaram lays down all bargaining and hands the outcome wholly to God. Since God already knows past, present, and future, and holds the full reckoning of accumulated deeds, there is no offering the devotee could bring to balance the books or earn his way. His own efforts count for nothing here; the single thing that avails is to stand with folded hands in surrender. He measures his own words as weightless as wind against the will of the generous Lord, and rests in the certainty that whatever God decides is what will come to pass.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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