Surrender, only a gatekeeper
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ठेवूनियां डोई । पायीं जालों उतराई ॥1॥
कारण तें तुह्मीं जाणां । मी तराळ नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रसंगीं वचन । दिलें तें चि खावें अन्न ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भार । तुह्मी जाणां थोडा फार ॥3॥
उपदेश अभंग ॥ 11 ॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having placed my head at Your feet, I have discharged my obligation. You know the reason, O Narayana; I am but a gatekeeper. Whatever food was given at the occasion, that is what should be eaten. Says Tuka, You know whether the burden is great or small.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have laid my head at your feet, and so I have paid off my debt. You know the reason for it, Narayana; I am only a gatekeeper. Whatever word was given at the moment, that is the food I should eat. Tuka says: you know whether the burden is great or small.
What it means
Tukaram describes his discipleship as a debt discharged by one act: bowing his head at God's feet. He refuses any larger claim about himself, calling himself merely a gatekeeper, a doorman who lets others through rather than the master of the house. Living by whatever was given at the time is his image for trust: he takes what the moment provides as the only food meant for him, asking for nothing more. The close leaves the whole weight with God, who alone knows whether the load laid on this servant is heavy or light. The editorial note marks it as a verse of instruction.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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