Devotional counsel, guard what is yours
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आहे तें चि आह्मी मागों तुजपाशीं । नव्हों तुज ऐसीं क्रियानष्टें ॥1॥
न बोलावीं तों च वर्में बरें दिसे । प्रकट ते कैसे गुण करूं ॥ध्रु.॥
एका ऐसें एका द्यावयाचा मोळा । कां तुह्मां गोपाळा नाहीं ऐसा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे लोकां नाहीं कळों आलें । करावें आपुलें जतन तों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I ask of You only what already is. We are not among those whose practice has come to ruin. Before one speaks, the inner truth is visible. How can I make such qualities openly manifest? One passes the bundle to another; do even You, O Gopala, not have such a one? Says Tuka, people have not come to understand this. Guard what is your own, while it may still be guarded.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I ask of you only what already is. We are not among those whose practice has fallen into ruin. Before a word is spoken, the inner truth is already seen. How should I make such qualities openly on display? One hands the bundle on to another; have you too, Gopala, not such a one? Tuka says: people have not come to understand this. Guard what is your own, while it can still be guarded.
What it means
Tukaram insists he asks God for nothing strange, only for what is already true, and he sets himself apart from those whose spiritual practice has collapsed. He resists putting his inner state on public show, since the truth in the heart is seen before any word is spoken. There is a quiet warning that devotion can be passed off lightly from hand to hand, like a bundle handed on, and he asks whether even God keeps such a one. The poem ends as counsel pointed at our own carelessness: most people never grasp this, so guard your inner treasure while it can still be guarded.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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