Renunciation, the body given away
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कांहीं मागणें हें आह्मां अनुचित । वडिलांची रीत जाणतसों ॥1॥
देह तुच्छ जालें सकळ उपाधी । सेवेपाशीं बुिद्ध राहिलीसे ॥ध्रु.॥
शब्द तो उपाधि अचळ निश्चय । अनुभव हो काय नाहीं अंगीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देह फांकिला विभागीं । उपकार अंगीं उरविला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It is improper for us to beg; we know the ways of our ancestors. The body and all its worldly concerns have become worthless; my mind rests only in service. Words are worldly distractions, but the inner resolve is unshakeable. Is there not experience in this very being? Says Tuka, this body has been divided and distributed, and only gratitude has been kept within.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It is not right for us to beg for anything. We know the way our elders kept. The body and all its tangles have become worthless to me. My mind rests only at Your service. Words are just one more tangle; the inner resolve does not move. Is there no living proof of this in me? Tuka says: this body has been divided and given out in shares, and only gratitude has been kept back within me.
What it means
Tukaram is refusing the posture of a beggar before God. The saints before him did not whine for favors, and he holds to their way. He has stopped valuing the body and its worldly concerns, and has settled his mind wholly into service. He warns that talk itself is just another distraction; what counts is the unmoving resolve and the lived experience underneath the words. The closing image is stark: he has parceled out his very body and given it away, keeping for himself nothing but gratitude.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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