Renunciation, won by long effort
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देव तिंहीं बळें धरिला सायासें । करूनियां नास उपाधीचा ॥1॥
पर्वपक्षी धातु धिःकारिलें जन । स्वयें जनादनन ते चि जाले ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे यासी न चले तांतडी । अनुभवें गोडी येइल कळों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those great ones seized God by sheer force of their effort, having first destroyed all worldly distractions. They renounced caste, possessions, and the opinions of the world. They themselves became one with Janardana. Says Tuka, this cannot be done in haste. Through experience alone will the sweetness of it become known.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those great ones laid hold of God by force, by hard effort, after destroying all that distracts. They threw away caste, possessions, and the opinion of the world; rejected by people, they themselves became Janardana. Tuka says: this cannot be rushed. Through experience alone will its sweetness come to be known.
What it means
Tukaram describes the path of the saints who went before, and he does not soften the cost. They seized God only after tearing down the props the world hands us: caste, property, and reputation, the very things that make a person respectable. Stripped of those and scorned by others, they ended up merged with God himself. The closing turn is a warning to anyone eager for quick results: this ripens through lived experience, not haste, and only practice over time lets its sweetness be tasted.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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