Surrender, leaving it all to God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुह्मांसी न कळे सांगा काय एक । असया संकल्प वागवूं मी ॥1॥
आहे तेथें सत्ता ठेविलें स्थापूनि । प्रमाणें चि वाणी वदे आज्ञा ॥ध्रु.॥
कृपा जाली मग न लगे अंगसंग । निजध्यासें रंग चढता राहे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मागें बोलिलों तें वाव । आतां हा चि भाव दृढ झाला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What is it that You do not already know? Tell me, what intention should I carry? Authority is established where it already resides, and my speech utters only what is ordained. Once grace descends, no physical contact is needed, for the color of constant contemplation deepens on its own. Says Tuka, what I spoke before was empty. Now this faith alone has become firm.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What is there that you do not already know? Tell me, what plan should I carry? Power rests where it already lives; my speech says only what is ordained. Once your grace comes, no bodily nearness is needed; the color of steady remembrance deepens on its own. Tuka says: what I said before was empty. Now this faith alone has grown firm.
What it means
Tukaram lays down his own planning before a God who already knows everything. If God knows all, there is nothing for him to scheme or intend; the power lies with God, and even his words only repeat what is already decreed. He learns that grace does not depend on physical proximity: once it descends, the steady inward remembrance deepens by itself, like a dye taking color. He admits his earlier talk was hollow, and what remains is one settled faith. The poem is the moment self-effort gives way and trust becomes solid.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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