Surrender, the name as the secret
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुज न करितां काय नव्हे एक । हे तों सकिळक संतवाणी ॥1॥
घेई माझा भार करीं कइवार । उतरीं हा पार भवसिंधु ॥ध्रु.॥
उचित अनुचित पापपुण्यकाला । हा तों नये मला निवडितां ॥2॥
कुंटित राहिली बोलतां बोलतां । पार न पवतां वाणी पुढें ॥3॥
पुसतां ही कोणां न कळे हें गुज । राखें आतां लाज पांडुरंगा ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे बहु पाहिलें या जीवें । वर्म जालें जी ठावें नाम तुझें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There is nothing beyond Your power; this is the unanimous testimony of the saints. Take my burden and be my champion; ferry me across this ocean of existence. Right from wrong, sin from virtue, this and that, I cannot sort them out. My speech falters even as it tries to speak; words cannot reach the far shore. No one I ask can reveal this secret. Guard my honor now, O Panduranga. Says Tuka, my jiva has searched long, and the secret it found is this: Your name.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
There is nothing you cannot do. This is the one voice of all the saints. Take my burden; be my champion; carry me across this ocean of becoming. Right from wrong, sin from virtue, this from that: I cannot sort them out. My speech falters even as I speak; words cannot reach the far shore. No one I ask can tell me this secret. Guard my honor now, Panduranga. Tuka says: my jiva has searched a long time, and the secret it found is this: your name.
What it means
Tukaram hands over the whole problem because he has admitted he cannot solve it. He cannot reliably tell right from wrong or sin from virtue, and his own speech breaks down before it can carry him across the ocean of birth and death. Since no person he questions can give him the secret, he asks God to take the burden and be his rescuer and his honor. The long search ends not in a doctrine he masters but in one thing his jiva finally finds: the Name. Surrender here is not laziness; it is the honest end of a seeker who has exhausted his own means.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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