Detachment, each to his own
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मी तें मी तूं तें तूं । कुंकुड हें लाडसी ॥1॥
वचनासी पडो तुटी । पोटींचें पोटीं राखावें ॥ध्रु.॥
तेथील तेथें येथील येथें । वेगळ्या कुंथे कोण भारें ॥2॥
याचें यास त्याचें त्यास । तुक्यानें कास घातली ॥3॥ ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am I, and you are you; let this foolish clucking cease. Let speech be cut short; what is in the belly should stay in the belly. What belongs here stays here, what belongs there stays there; why should anyone groan under another's burden? Says Tuka, each to his own; I have girded myself for my own path.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am I, and you are you; let this silly clucking stop. Let talk be cut short; keep what is in the belly inside the belly. What belongs there stays there, what belongs here stays here; why should anyone groan under another's load? Tuka says: each man's own to himself; I have girded up for my own road.
What it means
Tukaram draws a firm line between himself and others and tells the endless chatter to cease. He counsels keeping one's inner matters within rather than spilling them in argument. The image of carrying another's burden names the trouble he refuses: taking on what is not yours leaves you groaning under a weight you were never meant to bear. Letting each thing and each person keep to their own place, he girds himself for his own path alone. This is detachment as boundary, not coldness: tend your own road and let others tend theirs.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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