Surrender, the burden laid on God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
याचिया आधारें राहिलों नििंश्चत । ठेवूनियां चित्त पायीं सुखें ॥1॥
माझें सुखदुःख जाणे हित फार । घातलासे भार पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
कृपेचीं पोसणीं ठायींचीं अंखिलीं । ह्मणऊनि लागली यास चिंता ॥2॥
मन राखे हातीं घेऊनियां काठी । इंिद्रयें तापटीं फांकों नेदी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे यासी अवघड नाहीं । शरणागता कांहीं रक्षावया ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Relying on Him, I remain at peace, my mind happily placed at His feet. He knows my joys and sorrows and cares deeply for my good; I have placed my burden on Panduranga. He has nourished me with compassion from the very beginning, and so this concern for me is His own. He holds my mind in check with a staff in hand, not allowing the restless senses to stray. Says Tuka, nothing is difficult for Him when it comes to protecting those who have surrendered.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Resting on Him, I stay free of worry, my mind set happily at His feet. He knows my joy and my sorrow, and cares greatly for my good. I have laid my whole burden on Panduranga. I am one He has fed with His grace from the start, His own to keep; so the worrying over me is His, not mine. He holds my mind in check with a staff in His hand, and will not let the hot, restless senses scatter. Tuka says: nothing is hard for Him when it comes to guarding the one who has surrendered.
What it means
This is surrender stated as a transfer of responsibility. Because Tukaram has placed his whole burden on Panduranga, the anxiety that would normally be his becomes God's; the one who is fed by grace from the beginning is God's charge to keep. He pictures God as a herdsman with a staff, keeping the restless senses from straying and holding the mind in place, work the devotee no longer has to do himself. The point is not passivity but trust: the protecting is God's task. The closing line carries the weight of the poem: guarding one who has truly surrendered is, for God, nothing difficult at all.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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