Surrender, the body left to its fate
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देह तंव आहे प्रारब्धा अधीन । याचा मी कां सीण वाहूं भार ॥1॥
लाभ तो न दिसे याहूनि दुसरा । आणीक दातारा येणें जन्में ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आलों सोसीत संकटें । मी माझें वोखटें आहे देवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
This body is subject to its destined fate. Why should I bear the burden of worrying about it? I see no greater gain than this in any other birth, O generous Lord. Says Tuka, I have come enduring many hardships. I and my pitiable ways are before You, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The body is under the rule of its destined fate. Why should I carry the burden of worrying over it? I see no gain greater than this in any other birth, O generous Lord. Tuka says: I have come through, enduring many troubles. I and my poor faulty self are here before you, O God.
What it means
Tukaram lets the body go. Since it is governed by prarabdha, the fate already set in motion, fretting over it is wasted effort he refuses to carry. He counts surrender itself as the highest gain any lifetime could offer, better than anything another birth could bring. Having come through much hardship, he simply sets himself down before God exactly as he is, faults and all. The whole abhanga is the act of handing over both the body's fate and one's own flawed self, and resting there.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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