Renunciation, the hard road of practice
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लय लक्षी मन न राहे निश्चळ । मुख्य तेथें बळ आसनाचें ॥1॥
हें तों असाध्य जी सर्वत्र या जना । भलें नारायणां आळवितां ॥ध्रु.॥
कामनेचा त्याग वैराग्य या नांव । कुटुंब ते सर्वविषयजात ॥2॥
कर्म उसंतावें चालत पाउलीं । होय जों राहिली देहबुिद्ध ॥3॥
भक्ति तें नमावें जीवजंतुभूत । शांतवूनि ऊत कामक्रोध ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे साध्य साधन अवघडें । देतां हें सांकडें देह बळी ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The mind, absorbed in dissolution, does not remain steady; the chief thing needed is the strength of firm posture. This is truly difficult for all people everywhere, yet it is good to call upon Narayana. Renunciation of desire is what is meant by dispassion; one's family consists of all the sense objects. Action subsides as one walks the path, so long as body-consciousness persists. Devotion means bowing to all living beings, calming the surge of desire and anger. Says Tuka, both the goal and the means are difficult; the body alone pays the price.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The mind, set on dissolving into stillness, will not stay still; what it needs most is the strength of a steady seat. This is truly hard for everyone, everywhere; yet it is good to call upon Narayana. Renunciation of desire, that is what dispassion means. Your family is the whole brood of sense objects. Action quiets down as you walk on, step by step, until body-consciousness comes to rest. Devotion means bowing to every living creature, cooling the boil of lust and anger. Tuka says: the goal and the means are both hard, and it is the body alone that pays the price.
What it means
Tukaram lays out the discipline of inward absorption honestly, admitting that the mind refuses to hold still and that firm posture is only the beginning of the strength required. He redefines the key terms plainly: dispassion is the giving up of desire, and the real family one must leave is not relatives but the whole crowd of sense objects. The path is gradual, action falling away step by step as body-consciousness loosens, and devotion shows itself as reverence for every living thing and the cooling of lust and anger. He does not pretend it is easy: both the end and the way are difficult, and it is the body that bears the cost of the effort.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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