Equanimity, joy and sorrow borne the same
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कैं वाहावें जीवन । कैं पलंगीं शयन ॥1॥
जैसी जैसी वेळ पडे । तैसें तैसें होणें घडे ॥ध्रु.॥
कैं भौज्य नानापरी । कैं कोरडएा भाकरी ॥2॥
कैं बसावें वहनीं । कैं पायीं अन्हवाणी ॥3॥
कैं उत्तम प्रावणॉ । कैं वसनें तीं जीणॉ ॥4॥
कैं सकळ संपत्ती । कैं भोगणें विपत्ती ॥5॥
कैं सज्जनाशीं संग । कैं दुर्जनाशीं योग ॥6॥
तुका ह्मणे जाण । सुख दुःख तें समान ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Sometimes one must carry water; sometimes one may rest on a fine bed. Whatever the occasion demands, that is what must happen. Sometimes there are feasts of many dishes; sometimes only dry bread. Sometimes one rides in a carriage; sometimes one walks barefoot. Sometimes fine garments; sometimes worn-out rags. Sometimes full prosperity; sometimes suffering in adversity. Sometimes the company of the good; sometimes the company of the wicked. Says Tuka, know that joy and sorrow are to be borne equally.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Sometimes I must carry water; sometimes I rest on a fine bed. Whatever the moment asks, that is what happens. Sometimes there are many dishes to eat; sometimes only dry bread. Sometimes I ride in a carriage; sometimes I walk barefoot. Sometimes fine clothes; sometimes worn-out rags. Sometimes there is full wealth; sometimes I must bear hard times. Sometimes the company of good people; sometimes the company of the wicked. Tuka says: know this, joy and sorrow are to be borne the same.
What it means
Tukaram lays out life as a series of opposites that arrive without our choosing: labor and rest, feast and dry bread, carriage and bare feet, riches and ruin, good company and bad. His point is that the moment decides, not us; we do not control which side comes. So the practice is not to chase one and flee the other. Take each as it comes, and bear joy and sorrow with the same steady heart. That evenness is the surrender the poem is teaching.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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