Surrender, the carefree devotee
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तरी सदा निर्भर दास । चिंताआसविरहित ॥1॥
अवघा चि एकीं ठाव । सर्व भाव विठ्ठलीं ॥ध्रु.॥
निरविलें तेव्हां त्यास । जाला वास त्यामाजी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे रूप ध्यावें । नाहीं ठावे गुणदोष ॥3॥
वेडिया उपचार करितां सोहळे । काय सुख कळे तयासी तें ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Such a devotee is forever carefree, free of worry and desire. All his being is in one place; his entire devotion belongs to Vitthal. Once surrendered, he finds his dwelling within God. Says Tuka, meditate on that form; there, merit and fault are unknown.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Then the servant is always full, free of worry and want. His one and only place is Vitthal; all his feeling rests there. Once he hands himself over, he finds his home within God. Tuka says: meditate on that form; there, merit and fault are unknown. The fool goes through the rites and shows; what joy in them does he understand?
What it means
Tukaram is describing what surrender does to a person. The devotee who has given himself away is forever full and carefree, free of worry and craving, because all his feeling rests in one place, Vitthal. Once he hands himself over, he finds his very dwelling within God, where the bookkeeping of merit and fault no longer applies. The closing line cuts the other way: the fool who only performs the outward rites and shows tastes none of this joy, because the surrender, not the ritual, is what opens it.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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