Prayer, only the company of the saints
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अखंड तुझी जया प्रीति । मज दे त्यांची संगति । मग मी कमळापति । तुज नानीं कांटाळा ॥1॥
पडोन राहेन ते ठायीं । उगा चि संतांचिये पायीं । न मगें न करीं कांहीं । तुझी आण विठोबा ॥ध्रु.॥
तुह्मी आह्मी पीडों ज्यानें । दोन्ही वारती एकानें । बैसलों धरणें । हाका देत दारेशीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे या बोला । चित्त द्यावें बा विठ्ठला । न पाहिजे केला । अवघा माझा आव्हेर ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Grant me the company of those who love You without ceasing. Then, O Lord of Lakshmi, I shall never trouble You again. I shall simply fall and lie still at the saints' feet, doing nothing, asking for nothing. I swear this by You, O Vithoba. By this one remedy, the pain of both of us is resolved. I have sat down in protest at Your door, calling out. Says Tuka, turn Your chitta to these words, O Vitthal. Do not reject me entirely.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Grant me the company of those who love you without ceasing. Then, O Lord of Lakshmi, I will never trouble you again. I will simply fall and lie still at the saints' feet, asking for nothing, doing nothing. I swear this to you, O Vithoba. By this one remedy the pain of us both is cured. I have sat down in protest at your door, calling out. Tuka says: turn your mind to these words, O Vitthal. Do not refuse me altogether.
What it means
Tukaram asks God for only one gift, the company of those who love him without break, and he frames it as a bargain that would free God of him: give me this, and I will trouble you for nothing else. He pictures himself simply lying at the saints' feet, wanting nothing more, and swears it by Vithoba. The wit is that one remedy heals both sides, the devotee's ache and the demands he keeps making on God. The closing has the posture of a sit-down protest at the door, a refusal to leave until heard, ending in a plain plea: attend to these words, Vitthal, and do not turn me away entirely.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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