Surrender, dying to self in one stroke
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
एका वेळे केलें रितें कलिवर । आंत दिली थार पांडुरंगा ॥1॥
पाळण पोषण लागलें ते सोई । देहाचें तें काई सर्वभावें ॥ध्रु.॥
माझिया मरणें जाली हे वसति । लागली ते ज्योती अविनाशा ॥2॥
जाला ऐसा एका घायें येथें नाहीं । तुका ह्मणे कांहीं बोलों नये ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In one stroke I emptied this body and gave its dwelling to Panduranga. All care and nourishment now follow His way; the body is no longer mine. By my dying to self, this abode was prepared and the imperishable flame was lit. Says Tuka, such a single decisive blow has never been struck before; nothing more need be said.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In one stroke I emptied this body and gave the space inside to Panduranga. All its care and feeding now follow his way; the body is no longer mine in any sense. By my own dying, this dwelling was made ready, and an undying flame was lit there. Such a thing, done with a single blow, has not happened here before. Tuka says: nothing more need be said.
What it means
Tukaram describes total surrender as a single decisive act: he emptied himself out and handed the inner space of the body over to Panduranga as a dwelling. From then on the body is no longer his concern; its care belongs to God. The death he means is the death of self-will, and only that dying prepares the place where an imperishable flame, the divine presence, can be lit. He claims this is rare, a thing done in one clean blow rather than by slow effort, and then refuses to explain further: before such a fact, words run out.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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