Surrender, still the tongue
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एका ह्मणे भलें । आणिका सहज चि निंदिलें ॥1॥
कांहीं न करितां आयास । सहज घडले ते दोष ॥ध्रु.॥
बरें वाइटाचें। नाहीं मज कांहीं साचें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वाणी । खंडोनि राहावें चिंतनीं॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One person calls it good, another naturally finds fault. Without any effort on my part, blame comes of its own accord. I possess nothing real of either good or bad. Says Tuka, still the tongue and remain absorbed in inner contemplation.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One man calls it good. Another finds fault without trying. I do nothing, and the blame still comes on its own. I have nothing truly good or bad of my own. Tuka says: stop the tongue and stay in inner contemplation.
What it means
Tukaram notices that praise and blame have nothing to do with him. The same act one person calls good another condemns, and the fault-finding comes whether or not he has done anything at all. So he lets go of ownership: he claims no real good and no real bad as his, since both are only the world's verdicts. The conclusion is the practice, to stop arguing back, still the tongue, and sink into inner contemplation. The point is that the answer to the world's contradictory judgments is not defense but silence turned inward toward God.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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