Self-emptying, the God who comes running
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आपलें तों कांहीं । येथें सांगिजेसें नाहीं ॥1॥
परि हे वाणी वायचळ । छंद करविते बरळ ॥ध्रु.॥
पंचभूतांचा हा मेळा । देह सत्यत्वें निराळा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भुली । इच्या उफराटएा चाली ॥3॥
कटीं कर जैसे तैसे । उभा राहिला न बैसे ॥ध्रु.॥
न पाहे सिदोरी । जाती कुळ न विचारी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भेटी । हाका देतां उठाउठीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There is nothing of my own to declare here. Yet this voice chatters on, indulging its whims and babbling. This body is an assembly of five elements; the truth within it stands apart. Says Tuka, delusion makes it all run backwards. He stands with hands on His waist, just as He is, upright and unsitting. He does not check one's provisions, or inquire into caste and lineage. Says Tuka, at the very first call, He comes running to meet you.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have nothing of my own to declare here. Yet this voice keeps chattering, indulging its whims and babbling on. The body is a gathering of the five elements; the truth within it stands apart. Tuka says: delusion makes it all run backwards. He stands just as He is, hands on His waist, upright, never sitting down. He does not check your provisions; He does not ask your caste or your lineage. Tuka says: at the very first call, He gets up at once and comes to meet you.
What it means
Tukaram first admits he has nothing to offer: the talking self is only restless noise, and the body is borrowed elements while the real self stands apart from it. He names delusion as the force that turns this the wrong way round, making us claim what is not ours. Against that emptiness he sets the figure of Vitthal at Pandhari, standing on the brick with hands on His waist, ready and unmoving. The point of the close is that this God asks for no credential: not your stores of merit, not your caste or family. He answers the first cry instantly, so the only thing required of you is to call.
Surrender and Acceptance
The conditions of spiritual receptivity and the letting go of the separate self.
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