Surrender, the carefree servant
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवासी लागे सकळांसी पोसावें । आह्मां न लगे खावें काय चिंता ॥1॥
देवा विचारावें लागे पापपुण्य । आह्मासी हे जन अवघें भलें ॥ध्रु.॥
देवासी उत्पित्त लागला संहार । आह्मां नाहीं फार थोडें काहीं ॥2॥
देवासी काम लागला धंदा । आह्मासी ते सदा रिकामीक ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मी भले देवाहून । विचारितां गुण सर्वभावें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
God must feed and sustain everyone; we need not worry about what we shall eat. God must weigh sin and merit; for us, all people are simply good. God must handle creation and destruction; for us, nothing is too much or too little. God must manage all the business and activity; we are forever free and at leisure. Says Tuka, when you consider it with full consideration, we are actually better off than God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God has to feed and keep everyone. We need not worry about what we will eat. God has to weigh sin and merit. For us, all people are simply good. God has to manage creation and destruction. For us, nothing is too much or too little. God has the work and the business to run. We are always free and at leisure. Tuka says: in truth we are better off than God. Consider it with your whole heart.
What it means
Tukaram describes the freedom of total surrender as a kind of holy idleness. He lists the labors that belong to God: feeding all creatures, judging sin and merit, running creation and dissolution, carrying the world's business. Because those duties are God's and not his, the devotee is left with nothing to manage and nothing to fear; he need not even sort people into good and bad, for to him all are good. The tone is playful, even cheeky: he claims to be better off than God Himself, since God works while the servant rests. The point underneath the wit is the logic of surrender. When you genuinely hand the whole burden over, what remains for you is leisure and trust.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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