Surrender, plundering God's treasure
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जालों बिळवंत । होऊनियां शरणागत ॥1॥
केला घरांत रिघावा । ठायीं पाडियेला ठेवा ॥ध्रु.॥
हाता चढे धन । ऐसें रचलें कारण ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मिठी । पायीं देउनि केली लुटी॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have become mighty by becoming a surrendered one. I gained entry into His home and found the treasure exactly where it was kept. Wealth that comes easily into one's hands: such is the arrangement He has made. Says Tuka, I embraced His feet and plundered the entire store.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have become mighty by becoming one who surrenders. I made my way into His house and found the treasure lying right where it was kept. Wealth comes easily into my hands; that is how He has arranged it. Tuka says: I clasped His feet and looted the whole store.
What it means
Tukaram turns the language of weakness inside out: he became powerful precisely by giving up, by becoming one who has surrendered. Surrender is the entry; once inside God's house he finds the treasure waiting exactly where it was always kept, and the wealth falls into his hands without effort because God has arranged it that way. The closing image is gleeful and bold: clasping the Lord's feet, he plundered the entire store. The paradox is the whole teaching. What no force or striving can seize, total self-giving carries off completely, so the one who lays down all power walks away with all the riches.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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