Surrender, accepting one's place
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आहे तैसा आतां आहे ठायीं बरा । ठेविलों दातारा उचितें त्या ॥1॥
वचनाचा भार पडिलिया शिरीं । जालें मग भारी उतरेना ॥ध्रु.॥
अबोल्याची सवे लावुनियां मना । फाकों नेदीं गुणा ऐसें करूं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मां गोंवळ्याचा संग । राखतें तें अंग जाणतसों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
As I am now, it is well to remain as I am, placed here by Your fitting design, O generous Lord. Once the burden of words has fallen upon the head, it grows heavy and cannot be lifted off. Let the mind learn the habit of silence, and let me keep the qualities from scattering. Says Tuka, I know well how to guard the company of those who tether me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
As I am now, it is good to stay just as I am, set here by your fitting design, O generous Lord. Once the burden of words has fallen on the head, it grows heavy and will not lift off. Let the mind learn the habit of silence; let me not scatter the good qualities. Tuka says: I know well how to keep the company of those who tether me.
What it means
Tukaram accepts the exact condition God has placed him in, content to remain as he is because the arrangement is God's own fitting design. He warns about the weight of words: once a burden of speech settles on the head, it becomes heavy and cannot be set down, so loose talk binds. His remedy is to teach the mind silence and to keep his good qualities from scattering. The closing line is wry and grateful: he has learned to stay willingly in the company of whatever, or whoever, tethers him to God, treating the very thing that binds him as a help rather than a chain.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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