Helpless trust, no one else
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कोण आह्मां पुसे सिणलें भागलें । तुजविण उगलें पांडुरंगा ॥1॥
कोणापाशीं आह्मीं सांगावें सुखदुःख । कोण तानभूक निवारील ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण या तापाचा करील परिहार । उतरील पार कोण दुजा ॥2॥
कोणापें इच्छेचें मागावें भातुकें । कोण कवतुकें बुझावील ॥3॥
कोणावरी आह्मीं करावी हे सत्ता । होइल साहाता कोण दुजा ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे अगा स्वामी सर्व जाणां । दंडवत चरणां तुमच्या देवा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Who asks after us, the weary and worn, if not You, O Panduranga? To whom shall we tell our joys and sorrows? Who will quench our thirst and hunger? Who will relieve the heat of this affliction? Who else can carry us to the far shore? From whom shall we ask for the provisions our longing craves? Who will soothe us with gentle coaxing? Upon whom shall we place our demands? Who else can bear them? Says Tuka, O Master who knows all, I prostrate at Your feet, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Who asks after us, the weary and worn, if not you, O Panduranga? To whom can we tell our joys and our sorrows? Who else will quench our thirst and hunger? Who will cool the heat of this affliction? Who else can carry us to the far shore? From whom can we ask for the things our longing craves? Who will soothe us with gentle coaxing? On whom else can we lay our demands? Who else can bear them? Tuka says: O Master, you know everything. I bow down at your feet, O God.
What it means
The whole abhanga is built out of one question asked over and over: who else, if not you? Tukaram lists everything a person needs, someone to ask after them, to hear their joys and sorrows, to feed them, to cool their fever, to ferry them across, to indulge and soothe them, and after each one he answers that there is no second who can do it. This is not flattery; it is the logic of total dependence, the deliberate stripping away of every other support until only God is left. The closing bow is what such helplessness becomes when it stops protesting: he simply lays himself at the feet of the One who already knows all of it.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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