Surrender, the only kin
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माय बाप बंधु सोयरा सांगाती । तूं चि माझी प्रीति गण गोत ॥1॥
शरण आलीं त्यांचीं वारिलीं दुरितें । तारिले पतित असंख्यात ॥ध्रु.॥
इतर कोण जाणे पावलें विश्रांति । न येतां तुजप्रति शरणागत ॥2॥
तयामध्यें मज ठेवीं नारायणा । लक्षुमीरमणा सोइरिया ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे देई दर्शनाचा लाभ । जे पाय दुर्लभ ब्रह्मादिकां ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Mother, father, brother, kinsman, companion: You alone are my beloved, my clan, my family. Those who came to You for refuge had their sins removed. Countless wrongdoers have been saved. Who else can give true rest unless one comes to You as a surrendered soul? Place me among them, O Narayana, O husband of Lakshmi, O dear One. Says Tuka, grant me the gift of Your darshan, those feet that are rare even for Brahma and the gods.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Mother, father, brother, kinsman, companion: You alone are my love, my clan, my family. Those who came to You for refuge had their sins taken away. Countless fallen ones have been saved. Who else gives true rest, unless one comes to You as a surrendered soul? Place me among them, Narayana, husband of Lakshmi, my dear One. Tuka says: grant me the gift of Your sight, those feet that are rare even for Brahma and the gods.
What it means
Tukaram dissolves every ordinary tie into one. Mother, father, brother, friend, the whole web of kinship is replaced by God alone. The ground for this is God's record with those who surrender: their sins lifted, countless fallen ones rescued, a rest that nothing else can give. So the prayer is simply to be counted among the surrendered, not singled out. The closing line marks how great the gift is. The sight of these feet is rare even for Brahma and the gods, yet it is offered to one who comes empty-handed and admits he has no other family.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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