Prayer through the saints to God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुह्मी सनकादिक संत । ह्मणवितां कृपावंत ॥1॥
एवढा करा उपकार । देवा सांगा नमस्कार ॥ध्रु.॥
भाकूनि करुणा । विनवा वैकुंठींचा राणा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मज आठवा । मुळ लवकरी पाठवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You are the saints like Sanaka and the others, and you call yourselves compassionate. Then do me this one favor: carry my salutations to God. Plead with tender mercy before the king of Vaikuntha. Says Tuka, remember me and send word to come for me soon.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You are saints like Sanaka and the others, and you call yourselves full of mercy. Then do me this one kindness: carry my salutation to God. Plead with tender pity before the king of Vaikuntha. Tuka says: remember me, and send word for me to come soon.
What it means
Tukaram does not address God directly here; he addresses the saints and asks them to be his go-betweens. He gently holds them to their own name, since they are called compassionate, let them prove it by carrying his greeting to God and pleading his case before the king of Vaikuntha. The request behind the request is a longing to be taken home: send word for me to come soon. The poem rests on the conviction that the saints have the ear of God and that mercy obliges them to use it on behalf of one who asks.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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