Renunciation, the lone fearless seeker
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वैभव राज्य संपत्ती टाकावी । उदरार्थ मागावी माधोकरी॥1॥
आपुलें तें आधीं करावें स्वहित । ऐसी आहे नीत स्वधर्माची ॥ध्रु.॥
वर्ण कुळ जाति याचा अभिमान । तजावा सन्मान लौकिकाचा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे राहे एकाकी निःशंक । देउनियां हाक कंठीं काळ ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One should renounce power, kingdom, and wealth, and beg for alms from door to door. First attend to your own spiritual welfare; such is the law of one's true dharma. Abandon pride of caste, clan, and lineage, and reject the honor of worldly reputation. Says Tuka, dwell alone and fearless, placing the noose of Death around your own neck as a garland.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Throw away splendor, kingdom, and wealth; beg from door to door for the food of your belly. First do your own true good. That is the law of one's own dharma. Pride of caste, of family, of birth: leave it. Give up the honor of worldly name. Tuka says: live alone and without fear, with the call already given, with Death as a garland at your throat.
What it means
Tukaram lays out the path of the renouncer in plain steps. Let go of power and possessions, accept the begging bowl, and put your own liberation first, since that, not duty to the world, is what your truest dharma asks. Then drop the inner possessions too: pride of caste and lineage and the craving for a good reputation. The last line is the hardest: live alone and unafraid, having already accepted death so fully that you wear it around your neck like an ornament. Only one who has made peace with dying can be this free.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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