Renunciation within enjoyment, stand apart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भोग द्यावे देवा । त्याग भोगीं च बरवा ॥1॥
आपण व्हावें एकीकडे । देव कळेवरी जोडे ॥ध्रु.॥
योजे यथाकाळें । उत्तम पाला कंदें मूळें ॥2॥
वंचक त्यासी दोष । तुका ह्मणे मिथ्या सोस॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let experiences be offered to God; renunciation is beautiful precisely in the midst of enjoyment. Stand apart on one side, and God joins the body on the other. In due season one should gather leaves, tubers, and roots as they come. Says Tuka, the deceiver alone bears the fault; false striving is in vain.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let the things you enjoy be offered to God. Renunciation is beautiful right inside enjoyment. Stand apart on one side, and God joins the body on the other. In its season, gather leaves and tubers and roots as they come. Tuka says: only the cheat bears the fault; false craving is in vain.
What it means
Tukaram redefines renunciation so it does not mean fleeing the world. Offer your enjoyments to God and let go inwardly while still in the midst of them; that inner letting-go is the beautiful thing, not the refusal to live. Stand apart from your own enjoyment, and God takes up the body's part. Take what the season gives, plainly and without grasping. The fault, he says, lies only in the cheat, the one who pretends; hollow craving leads nowhere, while true renunciation is a posture of the heart held inside ordinary life.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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