Surrender, Yama's rod for the faithless
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चाड अनन्याची धरी नारायण । आपणासमान करी रंका ॥1॥
रंक होती राजे यमाचिये घरीं । आचरणें बरी नाहीं ह्मणवोनि ॥2॥
नसंपडे इंद्रचंद्रब्रह्मादिकां । अभिमानें एका तिळमात्रें॥3॥
तिळमात्र जरी होय अभिमान । मेरु तो समान भार देवा ॥4॥
भार पृथिवीचा वाहिला सकळ । जड होती खळ दुष्ट लोक ॥5॥
दुष्ट अभक्त जे निष्ठ मानसीं । केली हे तयांसी यमपुरी ॥6॥
यमदूत त्यांसी करिती यातना । नाहीं नारायणा भजिजेलें ॥7॥
जे नाहीं भजले एका भावें हरी । तयां दंड करी यमधर्म ॥8॥
यमधर्म ह्मणे तयां दोषियांसी । कां रे केशवासी चुकलेती ॥9॥
चुकलेती कथा पुराणश्रवण । होते तुह्मां कान डोळे मुख ॥10॥
कान डोळे मुख संतांची संगति । न धरा च चित्तीं सांगितलें ॥11॥
सांगितलें संतीं तुह्मां उगवूनि । गर्भाद येऊनि यमदंड ॥12॥
दंडूं आह्मीं रागें ह्मणे यमधर्म । देवा होय श्रम दुर्जनाचा ॥13॥
दुर्जनाचा याणें करूनि संहार । पूर्णअवतार रामकृष्ण ॥14॥
रामकृष्णनामें रंगले जे नर । तुका ह्मणे घर वैकुंठी त्यां ॥15॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Narayana cherishes the one who is utterly surrendered and makes even a pauper equal to Himself. Kings become beggars in Yama's domain because their conduct was not righteous. He cannot be grasped by Indra, Chandra, or Brahma, not even through a sesame seed's worth of pride. If there is even a sesame seed's pride, that pride weighs as heavy as Mount Meru upon God. God bears the burden of the whole earth, yet the wicked and the faithless are heavy to Him. For those who are cruel, faithless, and hard of chitta, the city of Yama was made. The messengers of Yama torment those who never worshiped Narayana. Those who did not worship Hari with single devotion are punished by Yama. Yama says to those wrongdoers, 'Why did you stray from Keshava? You had ears, eyes, and a mouth. You had the company of saints. Yet you did not hold to what was taught.' The saints explained everything, from the womb onward, about the rod of Yama. 'We shall punish them severely,' says Yama. God Himself is wearied by the burden of the wicked. To destroy such evildoers, the full incarnation of Rama and Krishna was taken. Those who are dyed in the Name of Rama and Krishna, says Tuka, have their home in Vaikuntha.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Narayana cherishes the one who is wholly surrendered and makes even a pauper equal to himself. Kings become beggars in Yama's house, because their conduct was not good. He is not caught by Indra, Chandra, or Brahma if there is even a sesame seed of pride. If there is a sesame seed of pride, that pride weighs as heavy as Mount Meru upon God. God bears the whole weight of the earth, yet the wicked and faithless are heavy to him. For the cruel and faithless, hard of heart, the city of Yama was made. Yama's messengers torment those who never worshiped Narayana. Those who did not worship Hari with single love are punished by Yama's law. Yama says to those wrongdoers: why did you stray from Keshava? You had ears, eyes, a mouth; you had the company of saints. Yet you did not hold in your heart what was taught. The saints explained it all, from the womb onward, the rod of Yama. We shall punish them in our anger, says Yama's law. God himself is wearied by the burden of the wicked. To destroy such evildoers, the full incarnation of Rama and Krishna was taken. Those who are dyed in the Name of Rama and Krishna, Tuka says, have their home in Vaikuntha.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts two destinies that turn entirely on pride and surrender. The wholly surrendered one is raised to God's own level, even from beggary, while kings of bad conduct are reduced to beggars in Yama's house. The hard teaching is that the smallest pride, a sesame seed's worth, weighs on God like Mount Meru, so that not even Indra or Brahma can grasp him through it. The middle of the poem stages Yama's interrogation of the faithless: they had ears, eyes, mouth, and the company of saints, and were warned from the womb itself, yet did not hold the teaching, and so they meet the rod. The point is not gloating over the damned but self-examination, since the warning was always available; the resolution is that the avatara of Rama and Krishna came precisely to destroy this burden of wickedness, and those dyed in the Name find their home in Vaikuntha.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
More in this theme →