Single-minded surrender, the inner witness
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एकविध आह्मी न धरूं पालट । न संडूं ते वाट सांपडली ॥1॥
ह्मणवूनि केला पाहिजे सांभाळ । माझें बुद्धीबळ पाय तुझे ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुत न कळे बोलतां प्रकार । अंतरा अंतर साक्ष असे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आगा जीवांच्या जीवना । तूं चि नारायणा साक्षी माझा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am single-minded; I will not waver or leave the path I have found. Therefore, watch over me; my only strength of intellect rests at Your feet. I cannot express all that I feel in words; the inner distance between us is itself the witness. Says Tuka, O life of all lives, You alone, O Narayana, are my witness.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am of one mind. I will not change. I will not leave the path I have found. So watch over me. All the strength of my mind is in your feet. I cannot tell it all in words. The inner space between us is itself the proof. Tuka says: O life of all that lives, you alone, Narayana, are my witness.
What it means
Tukaram pledges a fixed devotion and asks for nothing but protection in return. He has found the way and refuses to waver or to leave it, placing all his cleverness and capacity at Vitthal's feet rather than in his own judgment. He admits the feeling cannot be put into speech: the silent distance from heart to heart is the only testimony there is. So he calls on Narayana, the life within all life, as the one who sees the love no words can carry.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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