Renunciation, only God stays
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सोइरे धाइरे दिल्याघेतल्याचे । अंत हें काळीचें नाहीं कोणी ॥1॥
सख्या गोत्रबहिणी सुखाचे संगती । मोकलुनी देती अंतकाळीं ॥ध्रु.॥
आपुलें शरीर आपुल्यासी पारिखें । परावीं होतील नवल काई ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां सोड यांची आस । धरीं रे या कास पांडुरंगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Relatives and kinfolk are only for give and take; none stand by you at the hour of death. Sisters and brothers share your happy times but leave you alone when the end comes. Even your own body becomes a stranger to you; why be surprised that others turn away? Says Tuka, abandon all hope in them now and hold fast to the hem of Panduranga.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Relatives and kinfolk are only for giving and taking. None of them stands by you at the hour of death. Sisters and brothers share your good times, then leave you alone when the end comes. Your own body becomes a stranger to you; why be surprised that others turn away? Tuka says: now let go of all hope in them. Hold fast to the hem of Panduranga.
What it means
Tukaram strips away the comforts we lean on and shows that none of them go the distance. Relatives are a transaction of give and take; brothers and sisters keep you company in good times but are absent at death; even your own body, the most intimate thing you have, finally turns foreign to you. If the body itself deserts you, he asks, why expect others to stay? The conclusion is not despair but redirection: stop pinning hope on what cannot follow you past death, and grip the one thing that can, the hem of Panduranga's garment.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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