Surrender, the dread of rebirth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
किती वेळां जन्मा यावें । नित्य व्हावें फजीत ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि जीव भ्याला । शरण गेला विठोबासी ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रारब्ध पाठी गाढें । न सरें पुढें चालत ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे रोकडीं हे । होती पाहें फजीती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
How many times must one be born, only to be humiliated again and again? Therefore the jiva took fright and surrendered to Vitthal. Past karma pursues relentlessly; one cannot simply walk away from it. Says Tuka, this disgrace is happening right before our eyes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How many times must I be born, only to be shamed again and again? So my soul took fright and went for refuge to Vithoba. Past karma rides heavy on my back; I cannot just walk on past it. Tuka says: look, this disgrace is happening right now, before our eyes.
What it means
Tukaram names the fear that drives him to surrender. Birth after birth ends in the same humiliation, and the weight of past deeds clings to him so closely that he cannot outrun it by his own effort. That dread, not any calm calculation, is what sends the frightened soul running to Vithoba for refuge. He points to the disgrace as something visible right now, so the listener cannot dismiss the danger as distant or merely theological.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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