Surrender, the debt discharged
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देह तुझ्या पायीं । ठेवूनि जालों उतराई ॥1॥
आतां माझ्या जीवां । करणें तें करीं देवा ॥ध्रु.॥
बहु अपराधी । मतिमंद हीनबुिद्ध ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नेणें । भावभक्तीचीं लक्षणें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having placed this body at Your feet, I have discharged my debt. Now, O God, do with my life whatever You will. I am full of offenses, dull of mind, and low of understanding. Says Tuka, I do not even know the marks of true devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have placed this body at Your feet. With that, my debt is paid. Now, O God, do with my life whatever You will. I am full of offenses. My mind is dull. My understanding is low. Tuka says: I do not even know the marks of true devotion.
What it means
Tukaram lays the whole body down at God's feet and treats that single act as settling every account he owes. From there he hands over the rest: do with my life whatever You will. He does not pretend to deserve this, listing himself as full of faults, slow of mind, poor in understanding. The closing admission sharpens the surrender: he claims he does not even recognize what real devotion looks like, so there is nothing left to do but leave it all to God.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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