Surrender, beyond the body
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मी मेलों तेव्हां देह दिला देवा । आतां करूं सेवा कोणाची ॥1॥
सूत्रधारी जैसा हालवितो कळा । तैसा तो पुतळा नाचे छंदें ॥ध्रु.॥
बोलतसें जैसें बोलवितो देव । मज हा संदेह कासयाचा ॥2॥
पाप पुण्य ज्याचें तो चि जाणें कांहीं । संबंध हा नाहीं आह्मांसवें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे तुह्मी आइका हो मात । आह्मी या अतीत देहाहूनी ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I died long ago; I gave this body to God. Now whose service could I possibly perform? As a puppeteer moves the puppet's limbs, so the figure dances at His will. I speak as God makes me speak; what doubt could remain for me? The merit and sin belong to Him who controls it all; I have no connection to any of it. Says Tuka, hear this truth: we are beyond and apart from this body.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I died long ago; then I gave this body to God. Now whose service could I still perform? As a puppeteer moves the puppet's limbs, the figure dances at His will. I speak as God makes me speak. What doubt is left for me? The merit and the sin belong to the one who controls it all; I have no connection to any of it. Tuka says: hear this truth. We are beyond this body, apart from it.
What it means
Tukaram describes a death that happened while he is still alive: the sense of being a separate doer has ended, and the body has been handed over to God. With the doer gone, the question of doing service for anyone else no longer makes sense. He sees himself as a puppet on God's strings, even his speech moved by God, so no doubt can disturb him. Because he is not the one acting, the ledger of merit and sin is not his to carry; it belongs to the one who works the strings. His final claim is that the real self stands beyond the body altogether.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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