Prayer, run to me quickly
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लक्ष्मीवल्लभा । दिनानाथा पद्मनाभा ॥1॥
सुख वसे तुझे पायीं । मज ठेवीं ते चि ठायीं ॥ध्रु.॥
माझी अल्प हे वासना। तूं तो उदाराचा राणा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भोगें । पीडा केली धांव वेगें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Beloved of Lakshmi, Lord of the distressed, O Padmanabha. Happiness dwells at Your feet. Keep me always in that place. My desire is small, but You are the King of generosity. Says Tuka, the pain of experience has struck me. Run swiftly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O Beloved of Lakshmi, Lord of the helpless, O Padmanabha. Happiness lives at your feet; keep me always in that one place. My longing is a small thing, but you are the King of the generous. Tuka says: the suffering of this life has struck me hard. Come, run quickly.
What it means
This is a short, direct cry for help. Tukaram names God by his titles of power and tenderness, Beloved of Lakshmi, Lord of the helpless, Padmanabha, and asks for only one thing: to be kept always at the feet where happiness lives. He frames the request shrewdly, calling his own desire small while calling God the King of generosity, as if to say that granting it would cost such a giver nothing. The last line drops the framing and lets the pain speak plainly: I am being crushed, so come, and come fast.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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