Refuge, You are my mother
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुका ह्मणे माझी तूं होसी जननी । आणीक निर्वाणीं कोण राखे ॥4॥ ॥1॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Says Tuka, you are my mother. At the final hour, who else will protect me?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Tuka says: You are my mother. At the final hour, who else will protect me?
What it means
This single surviving line closes a prayer of utter dependence. Tukaram names God not as master or king but as mother, the one who holds a child who cannot hold itself. The question is not rhetorical despair but the logic of refuge: when death comes, every other support falls away, so there is no one else who can protect him. By stating it as a question he leaves the answer to God, which is itself the act of surrender.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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