Praise of Hanuman, surrender to Rama's servant
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काम घातला बांदोडी । काळ केला देशधडी ॥१॥
तया माझें दंडवत । कपिकुळीं हनूमंत ॥ध्रु.॥
शरीर वज्रा ऐसें । कवळी ब्रम्हांड जो पुच्छे ॥२॥
रामाच्या सेवका । शरण आलों म्हणे तुका ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He bound Desire and banished Death from the land. I bow before him, Hanuman of the clan of apes. His body is hard as a thunderbolt, and with his tail he can encircle the entire universe. Says Tuka, I have come in surrender to this servant of Rama.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He put Desire in chains; he drove Death out of the land. To him I bow down, Hanuman of the clan of apes. His body is hard as a thunderbolt; with his tail he encircles the whole universe. Tuka says: I have come in surrender to this servant of Rama.
What it means
Tukaram praises Hanuman as the one who masters the very forces that master us. He says Hanuman bound Desire and banished Death, the two powers no ordinary person can overcome, so bowing to him is bowing to that mastery. The body hard as a thunderbolt and the tail that wraps the whole universe show a strength without limit. But Tukaram's surrender is aimed precisely: he comes not to a free lord but to the servant of Rama, since for him Hanuman's greatness is finally the greatness of perfect service.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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