Surrender, the end of strategies
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
युक्ति तंव जाल्या कुंटित सकळा । उरली हे कळा जीवनाची ॥1॥
संतचरणीं भावें ठेविलें मस्तक । जोडोनि हस्तक राहिलोंसें ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणपणें नेणें कांहीं चि प्रकार । साक्षी तें अंतर अंतरासी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुह्मी केलें अभयदान । जेणें समाधान राहिलेंसे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All strategies have been exhausted; only this one art of spiritual living remains. I have placed my head at the feet of the saints with devotion, and I remain there with folded hands. Through knowing I have come to know nothing at all; the inner witness testifies to the inner truth. Says Tuka, you have granted me the gift of fearlessness, and by that, contentment has taken root.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Every scheme of mine has run out and stopped; only this one art of living is left. I have laid my head at the feet of the saints with feeling, and I stay there with folded hands. By all my knowing I have come to know nothing; the inner witness alone bears witness within. Tuka says: you have given me the gift of fearlessness, and by it my peace has held.
What it means
Tukaram is describing the moment when planning gives out and surrender begins. He has tried every strategy he had and they are all exhausted; what remains is the single art of resting in God. So he lays his head at the saints' feet and stays there with folded hands, no longer maneuvering. His learning has emptied into knowing-nothing, and the only true testimony left is the inner witness within the heart. The fruit of letting go is named at the end: they have granted him fearlessness, and on that gift his peace stands firm.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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