Renunciation, no regret
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आम्ही जरी आस । जालों टाकोनि उदास ॥१॥
आतां कोण भय धरी । पुढें मरणाचें हरी ॥ध्रु.॥
भलते ठायीं पडों । देह तुरंगीं हा चढो ॥२॥
तुमचें तुम्हांपासीं । आम्ही आहों जैसीं तैसीं ॥३॥
गेले मानामान । सुखदुःखाचें खंडन ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे चित्तीं । नाहीं वागवीत खंती ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We have cast off desire and become dispassionate. Who now fears what lies ahead, even death, O Hari? Let this body fall wherever it may; let it mount whatever steed it will. What is yours remains with you. We are as we have always been. Gone are honor and dishonor. The hold of pleasure and pain is broken. Tuka says: in my consciousness, I carry no regret.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We have thrown off desire and grown calm. Who now is afraid of anything ahead, even of death, O Hari? Let this body fall wherever it falls. Let it ride whatever it rides. What is yours stays with you; we are just as we have always been. Honor and dishonor are gone now. The grip of pleasure and pain is broken. Tuka says: in my mind I carry no regret at all.
What it means
The peace that comes after desire is set down. Once a person wants nothing, fear loses its handle, even the fear of death. Tukaram grows indifferent to what becomes of the body, where it falls, what happens to it, because he no longer identifies with its fortunes. He tells the world, in effect, keep what is yours; I am unchanged. With desire gone, the pairs that rule ordinary life, honor and dishonor, pleasure and pain, lose their hold. And the proof of it is the last line: a mind that carries no regret. Nothing is left clung to or undone.
Renunciation
The case for letting go of worldly attachments and turning wholly to God.
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