Surrender, bearing blows for the divine
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मस्तकीं सहावें ठांकियासी जाण । तेव्हां देवपण भोगावें गा ॥1॥
आपुलिये स्तुती निंदा अथवा मान । टाकावा थुंकोन पैलीकडे ॥ध्रु.॥
सद्गुसेवन तें चि अमृतपान । करुनी प्राशन बैसावें गा ॥2॥
आपुल्या मस्तकीं पडोत डोंगर । सुखाचें माहेर टाकुं नये ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां सांगूं तुला किती । जिण्याची फजीती करूं नये ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When you can endure blows upon the head, then alone can you enjoy the state of divinity. Whether it is praise or blame or honor, spit it all to the other side. The service of the Sadguru is the true nectar; drink it deeply and be at rest. Even if mountains fall upon your head, do not abandon the home of true joy. Says Tuka, how much more shall I tell you? Do not make a disgrace of this life.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When you can bear blows upon your head, then alone may you taste the state of the divine. Praise or blame or honor, your own, spit it all to the far side. The service of the Sadguru is the true nectar; drink it and sit at rest. Though mountains fall upon your head, do not abandon the home of joy. Tuka says: how much more shall I tell you? Do not make a disgrace of this life.
What it means
Tukaram sets a steep price on the divine state: you reach it only when you can take blows to the head without flinching, which means letting go of the self that needs defending. Praise, blame, and even honor are to be spat away, since all of them feed the very pride that must die. What replaces them is the service of the true teacher, which he calls nectar; drink that and rest in it. The warning at the end is for self-examination: the home of joy is worth keeping even if mountains fall on you, so do not throw a human life away in petty disgrace.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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