Surrender, the servant's law
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सेवकासी आज्ञा स्वामीची प्रमाण । जोंवरी हा प्राण जाय त्याचा ॥1॥
आणिकांचा धाक न धरावा मनीं । निरोपावचनीं टळों नये ॥ध्रु.॥
समय सांभाळूनि आगळें उत्तर । द्यावें भेदी वज्र तपायरी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तरी ह्मणवावें सेवक । खादलें तें हाक अन्न होय ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The master's command is the servant's law, to be upheld as long as breath remains. One should fear no one else and never deviate from the master's instruction. Seizing the right moment, one must deliver a reply so piercing it splits even a thunderbolt. Says Tuka, only then may one be called a true servant; only then does the bread one has eaten become worthy.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The master's command is the servant's law, to be kept as long as breath lasts. Fear no one else in your heart; never turn aside from what the master told you. Watch for the right moment, then give an answer so sharp it splits even a thunderbolt. Tuka says: only then may you be called a true servant; only then does the bread you have eaten become honest.
What it means
Tukaram lays out what it costs to call yourself a servant of God. One law governs everything: the master's command, held until the last breath, with no rival fear allowed in the heart and no swerving from instruction. But service here is not meekness. At the right moment the servant must speak a reply hard enough to split a thunderbolt, fearless before anyone but the master. Only such a one earns the title, and only then is the bread he has eaten in that house honestly his.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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