Surrender, the burden laid on God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न चलती हात पाय दृष्टी फिरली कैसी । जाणतां न देखों गा क्षर आणि अक्षरासी ॥१॥
विठोबा दान दे गा तुझ्या सारिखें नामा । कीर्ति हे वाखाणिली थोर वाढली सीमा ॥ध्रु.॥
भक्तिमुक्ति तूं चि एक होसि सिद्धीचा दाता । म्हणोनि सांडवली शोक भय लज्जा चिंता ।
सर्वस्वें त्याग केला धांव घातली आतां । कृपादान देई देवा येउनि सामोरा आतां ॥२॥
संसारसागरू गा भवदुःखाचें मूळ । जनवाद अंथरुण माजी केले इंगळ ।
इंयें वज्रघातें तपे उष्ण वरी जाळ । सोसिलें काय करूं दुर्भर हे चांडाळ ॥३॥
तिहीं लोकीं तुझें नाम वृक्ष पल्लव शाखा । वेंघलों वरि खोडा भाव धरूनि टेंका ।
जाणवी नरनारी जागो धरम लोकां । पावती पुण्यवंत सोई आमुचिये हाका ॥४॥
नाठवे आपपर आतां काय बा करूं । सारिखा सोइसवा हारपला विचारू ।
घातला योगक्षेम तुज आपुला भारू । तुकया शरणागता देई अभयकरू ॥५॥
वासुदेव - अभंग ६
मनु राजा एक देहपुरी । असे नांदतु त्यासि दोघी नारी।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My hands and feet will not move; my sight has reversed; I can no longer perceive the perishable or the imperishable. O Vitthala, give me the gift of your name, whose fame has spread beyond all measure. You alone are the giver of devotion, liberation, and all powers; therefore I have cast away grief, fear, shame, and worry. I have renounced everything and now rush toward you; come forward and grant me the gift of your grace. This ocean of worldly existence is the root of all sorrow; public opinion is a bed lined with burning coals, and the blows of the senses scorch with unbearable heat. In all three worlds your name is a tree with branches and leaves; I have climbed its trunk, clinging with the grip of faith. Says Tuka, your surrendered one: I can no longer tell self from other, and all reckoning has dissolved. I have placed the burden of my welfare upon you; grant the fearless hand to this refugee.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My hands and feet will not move. My sight has somehow turned around. Even knowing, I no longer see the perishable or the imperishable. Vithoba, give me the gift: a name like your own. That fame is praised; its bounds have grown great. You alone are the giver of devotion, of liberation, of every power. So I have let grief, fear, shame, and worry be taken from me. I have renounced everything; now I have run to you. Grant me the gift of grace, God; come out to meet me now. The ocean of worldly life is the root of all this sorrow. People's talk is a bed, and they have laid burning coals in it. These fall like thunderbolts and scorch; the flame burns above. What I have borne, what can I do; this misery is hard and cruel. In all three worlds your name is a tree with leaves and branches. I have climbed its trunk and clung there, holding on with faith. Let it wake men and women; let dharma stay awake in people. Let the worthy reach it; this is the call we make. I no longer know mine from yours; what shall I do now? The even balance is gone; reckoning has dissolved. I have placed my whole welfare, my burden, on you. To Tuka who has come for refuge, give the hand that says, do not fear.
What it means
Tukaram writes from a body and mind that have stopped working in the ordinary way, and turns that helplessness into total surrender. He asks Vithoba not for things but for the Name itself, then renounces grief, fear, shame, and worry by handing them over. The harshest image is social: 'people's talk' is a bed lined with burning coals, and the blows of the world fall like thunderbolts, so worldly existence itself is the root of his suffering. Against that he sets the one shelter, the divine Name pictured as a great tree he has climbed and clings to by faith. The poem ends with the core move of surrender: he can no longer separate self from other or balance any account, so he lays the entire burden of his welfare on God and asks only for the gesture of reassurance, the hand that says, do not fear.
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