Faith, secure in the strong one's arms
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कराल तें करा । हातें आपुल्या दातारा ॥1॥
बिळयाचीं आह्मी बाळें । असों निर्भर या सळे ॥ध्रु.॥
आतां कोठें काळ । करील देवापाशीं बळ ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पंढरीराया । थापटितों ठोक बाहएा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Whatever You wish to do, do it with Your own hands, O Benefactor. We are Your strong children; we rest secure in this confidence. What power can death now exert against the Lord? Says Tuka, O King of Pandhari, I beat my arms in triumphant challenge.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whatever you mean to do, do it with your own hands, O Giver. We are the children of the strong one. We rest secure in that strength. Now what can death do, here beside God? Tuka says: O King of Pandhari, I slap my arms in challenge.
What it means
Tukaram speaks from fearless trust. He hands the whole outcome to God: do as you will, with your own hands, for you are the Giver. He calls himself a child of the mighty one and rests in that protection without anxiety. From inside that safety he throws a question at death: what power can it possibly have when one stands beside God? The closing image is a wrestler's gesture, slapping his arms before a bout: standing before the King of Pandhari, Tukaram strikes his arms in confident, joyful challenge to anything that would threaten him.
Faith and Trust
The boldness of faith, steadfastness, and the security of trusting in God.
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