Renunciation, the body reclaimed for God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सम सपाट वेसनकाट निःसंग जालें सौरी । कुडपीयेला देश आतां येऊं नेदीं दुसरी ॥१॥
गाऊं रघुरामा हें चि उरलें आम्हां । नाहीं जीवतमा वित्तगोतासहीत ॥ध्रु.॥
ठाव जाला रिता झाकुनि काय आतां । कोणासवें लाज कोण दुजा पाहता ॥२॥
सौरीयांचा संग आम्हां दुरावलें जग । भिन्न जालें सुख भाव पालटला रंग ॥३॥
लाज भय झणी नाहीं तजियेलीं दोन्ही । फिराविला वेष नव्हों कोणाचीं च कोणी ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे हा आम्हां वेष दिला जेणें । जनाप्रचित सवें असों एकपणें ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Level and smooth, with all desire cut away, I have become a detached minstrel. The territory of the body has been reclaimed, and I will let no rival enter. Singing of Raghuram is all that remains for us now; the clinging to life, wealth, and kin is finished. The place has been emptied; what is there left to cover? There is no one to be ashamed before, no second person watching. The company of minstrels has estranged us from the world; the old pleasures are gone and the color of devotion has changed entirely. Shame and fear have both been abandoned; the costume is transformed, and we belong to no one. Says Tuka, the One who gave us this garb walks with us, and in the presence of all we stand as one.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Level and smooth, with desire cut clean away, I have become a detached minstrel. I have fenced off this whole country; now I will let no other enter. To sing of Raghuram is all that is left for us. The clinging to life, to wealth and kin, is gone. The place has been emptied. What is there to cover now? Before whom should I feel shame; who is the second person watching? The company of the minstrels has set the world far from us. The old pleasure is gone; its taste is now a different thing, and the color of devotion has changed. Shame and fear, I have let both of them go. The costume is turned around; we belong to no one, and no one belongs to us. Tuka says: the One who gave us this garb walks with us. Before all people we stand as one.
What it means
Tukaram pictures the renounced life as a cleared, leveled field that he has fenced off for God alone, letting no rival desire back in. With clinging to life, wealth, and kin gone, only one thing remains to do: sing of Raghuram. Because the inner place is now emptied, there is nothing left to hide and no second person to feel ashamed before, so shame and fear are simply dropped. The strange garb of the minstrel marks his separation from the world; he belongs to no one and no one to him. Yet he is not alone: the God who gave him this garb walks beside him, and in the sight of all people the two stand as one.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
More in this theme →