Surrender, nothing too hard for God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुज करितां होय ऐसें कांहीं नाहीं । डोंगराची राई रंक राणा ॥1॥
अशुभाचें शुभ करितां तुज कांही । अवघड नाहीं पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
सोळा सहजर नारी ब्रह्मचारी कैसा । निराहारी दुर्वासा नवल नव्हे ॥2॥
पंचभ्रतार द्रौपदी सती । करितां पितृशांती पुण्य धर्मा ॥3॥
दशरथा पातकें ब्रह्महत्ये ऐसीं । नवल त्याचे कुशीं जन्म तुझा ॥4॥
मुनेश्वरा नाहीं दोष अनुमात्र । भांडवितां सुत्र वध होती ॥5॥
तुका ह्मणे माझे दोष ते कायी । सरता तुझा पायीं जालों देवा ॥6॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Nothing is impossible for You: You make paupers into kings, and mountains into level ground. Turning the inauspicious into the auspicious is no difficulty for You, O Panduranga. You remained a celibate among sixteen thousand queens; that Durvasa fasted was nothing remarkable. Draupadi with five husbands was yet called a chaste woman, and her merit blessed her ancestors. Even Dasharatha bore sins as grave as the slaying of a Brahmin, yet it was a wonder that You were born from his lineage. When great sages in anger caused the destruction of clans, no fault touched them. Says Tuka, what then are my sins? I have surrendered at Your feet, O Lord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Nothing is impossible for You. You make paupers into kings, and mountains into level ground. To turn the inauspicious into the auspicious is no hard thing for You, O Panduranga. You stayed a celibate among sixteen thousand queens; that Durvasa fasted is no great wonder beside this. Draupadi had five husbands and was still called a chaste woman, and her merit blessed her ancestors. Dasharatha bore sins as heavy as the killing of a Brahmin, yet the wonder is that You were born in his line. When great sages in anger destroyed whole clans, no fault touched them. Tuka says: what then are my sins? I have been received at Your feet, O Lord.
What it means
Tukaram builds his case for his own acceptance out of God's power to overturn every measure. He begins with the rule: nothing is impossible for Panduranga, who lifts paupers to thrones and levels mountains, and who can turn the inauspicious into the auspicious. Then he reads the old stories the same way, as places where the usual reckoning was overturned: Krishna chaste among thousands of queens, Draupadi chaste with five husbands, even sin-laden Dasharatha made worthy of God's birth in his line, and angry sages left blameless after great destruction. The argument lands on himself: if God can do all that, his own sins are no obstacle, for he has already been received at God's feet. It is a plea built on God's freedom, not on his own worth.
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