Prayer, place me with the saints
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मागणें तें एक तुजप्रति आहे । देशी तरि पाहें पांडुरंगा ॥1॥
या संतांसी निरवीं हें मज देई । आणिक दुजें काहीं न मगें तुज ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां उदार होई । मज ठेवीं पायीं संतांचिया ॥3॥
स्वामींनीं काया ब्रह्म केली ते अभंग ॥ 24 ॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have one request to make of you, Panduranga; grant it if you will. Place me in the care of these saints; I ask nothing else of you. Says Tuka, be generous now and keep me at the feet of the saints.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have one thing to ask of you, Panduranga; grant it if you will. Put me in the care of these saints; I ask nothing else of you. Tuka says: be generous now, and keep me at the feet of the saints.
What it means
Tukaram brings God a single petition and makes a point of asking for nothing else. What he wants is not deliverance, wealth, or even a vision, but to be handed over into the keeping of the saints. He is asking God to entrust him to holy company, treating that company as the safest place a soul can be kept. The whole prayer turns on humility: rather than ask for a direct gift, he asks to be set at the feet of others who already belong to God.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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