Surrender, God as the only audience
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कोण जाणे कोणा घडे उपासना । कोण या वचनाप्रति पावे ॥१॥
आतां माझा श्रोता वक्ता तूं चि देवा । करावी ते सेवा तुझी च मां ॥ध्रु.॥
कुशळ चतुर येथें न सरते । करितील रिते तर्क मतें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जालें पेणें एके घरीं । मज आणि हरी तुम्हां गांठी ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Who knows to whom true worship is granted, and who will attain the fulfillment of these words? From now on, O God, you alone are my listener and my speaker; let me serve only you. The clever and the cunning have no place here; they will only spin empty theories and opinions. Says Tuka, I have settled into one single home: the bond between me, Hari, and all of you.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Who knows to whom true worship is granted, and who will reach the fulfillment of these words? From now on, O God, you alone are my listener and my speaker; let me serve only you. The clever and the cunning have no place here; they will only spin empty theories and opinions. Tuka says: I have settled into one single home, the bond between me, Hari, and you.
What it means
Tukaram is surrendering both the worship and its words back to God. He admits he cannot know who is granted real devotion or who will reach what his verses point to, so he stops performing for any human audience. From now on God is both his hearer and the one who speaks through him, and service is owed to God alone. He shuts the door on the clever and the cunning, whose cleverness only produces empty argument, because the bond here is not a matter for debate. His final resting place is small and complete: one home holding only himself, Hari, and the listener drawn into that same intimacy.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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