Renunciation, a guest in this world
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येहलोकीं आह्मां वस्तीचें पेणें । उदासीन तेणें देहभावीं॥1॥
कार्यापुरतें कारण मारगीं । उलंघूनि वेगीं जावें स्थळा ॥ध्रु.॥
सोंगसंपादणी चालवितों वेव्हार । अत्यंतिक आदर नाहीं गोवा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वेंच लाविला संचिता । होइल घेतां लोभ कोणां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In this world, our stay is but a temporary shelter. We are therefore detached from bodily existence. For the journey, only what is needed; one must cross over quickly to the true destination. We carry on worldly transactions as a formality, a performance; there is no deep attachment to it all. Says Tuka, we have set our accumulated karma to spend itself. Let anyone take it who wishes; what should we covet?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In this world our stay is only a night's lodging. So we are detached from the sense of being the body. On the road we take only what the journey needs, and cross over quickly to our true place. We carry on our affairs as a performance, a costume kept up; there is no deep attachment in it. Tuka says: I have set my stored-up karma to spend itself. Let anyone take it who wishes; what is there to covet?
What it means
Tukaram treats this life as an overnight stop, not a home, and so loosens his grip on the body and its claims. A traveler carries only what the road requires and hurries on to the real destination; in the same way he keeps up his worldly dealings as a kind of costume, going through the motions without clinging to them. He has decided to let his accumulated karma simply burn off rather than hoard or guard it. The closing question, what is there to covet, is the whole stance: when the stay is brief and the self is not the body, there is nothing here worth grasping.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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