Patience, what is destined comes
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चरफडें चरफड शोकें शोक होये । कार्यमूळ आहे धीरापाशीं ॥1॥
कल्पतसे मज ऐसें हें पाहातां । करावी ते चिंता मिथ्या खोटी ॥ध्रु.॥
न चुके होणार सांडिल्या शूरत्वा । फुकट चि सत्त्वा होइल हानी ॥2॥
तुकयाबंधु ह्मणे दिल्या बंद मना । वांचूनि निधाना न पवीजे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Fretting only breeds more grief, and sorrow only multiplies sorrow. The root of all accomplishment lies with patience. Considering all this, it seems to me that the worry one carries is itself false and futile. What is destined cannot be avoided by abandoning one's courage; to do so would only be a pointless loss. Says Tukya-bandhu, unless the mind is firmly restrained, one cannot attain the hidden treasure.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Fretting only breeds more fretting; grief only makes more grief. The root of everything that gets done lies with patience. When I look at it, it seems to me that the worry one carries is itself false and empty. What is destined cannot be escaped by throwing away your courage; that would only be a loss for nothing. Tukya-bandhu says: unless the mind is held firmly in check, the hidden treasure cannot be reached.
What it means
This is a teaching against the spiral of worry. The poet sees that fretting feeds on itself and that grief multiplies grief, while patience is the actual ground from which anything is accomplished. He calls the worry we carry false, because what is going to happen will happen whether or not we surrender our nerve; abandoning courage only adds a pointless loss to the unavoidable one. The real work is restraint of the mind, and only a mind held steady can reach the treasure that is being sought.
Faith and Trust
The boldness of faith, steadfastness, and the security of trusting in God.
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