Devotion, the dance of surrender
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
राम कृष्ण ऐसीं उच्चारितां नामें । नाचेन मी प्रेमें संतांपुढें ॥1॥
काय घडेल तें घडो ये सेवटीं । लाभ हाणी तुटी देव जाणे ॥ध्रु.॥
चिंता मोह आशा ठेवुनि निराळीं । देईन हा बळी जीव पायीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कांहीं उरों नेदीं उरी । सांडीन हे थोरी ओवाळोनी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Uttering the names Rama and Krishna, I will dance with love before the saints. Whatever may happen in the end, let it happen; God knows the profit and loss. Setting aside worry, delusion, and desire, I will lay down this very life at His feet. Says Tuka, I will hold back nothing; I will toss away all pride as an offering.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Saying the names Rama and Krishna, I will dance with love before the saints. Whatever happens in the end, let it happen. God knows the profit and the loss. Setting aside worry, delusion, and desire, I will lay this very life at His feet. Tuka says: I will hold back nothing. I will throw away all my standing as an offering.
What it means
Tukaram describes total self-offering through the Name. He sings Rama and Krishna and dances before the saints, refusing to calculate outcomes; the ledger of profit and loss is handed over to God. To dance freely he must first put down the three weights that bind the mind, worry, delusion, and desire. Then comes the full price: not only worry but life itself, and not only life but pride and reputation, all waved away as one waves a lamp in offering. Nothing is kept back, because keeping back anything would still be a calculation.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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