Surrender, the God who comes running
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं गुणदोष लिंपों देत अंगीं । झाडितां प्रसंगीं वरावरी ॥1॥
निकटवासिया आळवितों धांवा । तेथूनियां देवा सोडवूनी ॥ध्रु.॥
उमटे अंतरीं तें करूं प्रगट । कळोनी बोभाट धांव घालीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तरि वांचलों या काळें । समर्थाचे बळें सुखी असों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not let merit or fault cling to my being, brushing them off as they come on the surface. O God, who dwells close within, I call on You to rush in and deliver me from that place. Whatever stirs within, I make it known openly, and recognizing the outcry, You come rushing. Says Tuka, I have survived this time by the strength of the Capable One, and in that strength I find my happiness.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not let merit or fault stick to me. As they come on the surface, I brush them off. You live close within me, so I call out and run to You; from that place, You set me free. Whatever rises inside me, I make it known out loud. You hear the cry and come running. Tuka says: I have survived this time by the strength of the Capable One; in His strength I stay happy.
What it means
Tukaram refuses to be defined by his own record, good or bad, brushing both merit and fault off the surface rather than hoarding either. What he keeps instead is a habit of crying out to the God he says dwells close within. He does not hide what stirs inside him; he speaks it openly, and trusts that the outcry itself brings God rushing to deliver him. The whole poem rests its weight on one claim: he is alive and at peace not by his own power but by the strength of the Capable One.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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