Prayer, let the birth not be wasted
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय ऐसा जन्म जावा वांयांविण । कांहीं तरी ॠण असो माथां ॥1॥
कोणे तरी काळें होईल आठव । नाहीं जरी भाव भार खरा ॥ध्रु.॥
शता एकातरी जन्माच्या शेवटीं । कृपाळुवा पोटीं होइल दया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाहीं फांकों तरी देत । सर्वांचें उचित सांपडलें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Should this birth pass entirely in vain? Let there be at least some debt of grace upon my head. At some point, at some hour, remembrance will come, even if true devotion has not yet taken root. In one out of a hundred births, at the very end, may the compassionate Lord feel pity in his mind. Says Tuka, if he does not let me drift away, then the proper place for everyone will be found.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Should this birth pass entirely for nothing? Let there be at least some debt of grace on my head. At some hour, in some age, remembrance will come, even if true love has not taken root yet. In one birth out of a hundred, at its very end, may the merciful Lord feel pity inside. Tuka says: if he will not let me drift away, then the right place for everyone will be found.
What it means
Tukaram prays against a life amounting to nothing, and his hope is humble to the point of bargaining. He asks only that some claim of grace be marked on him, so that remembrance will surface eventually even if real devotion has not yet grown. He is willing to wait across many births, hoping that at the close of even one of them, mercy will stir in the Lord. The final line widens the prayer past himself: if God simply holds people from drifting off, each one will end up where they belong. It is the prayer of someone who trusts the long patience of grace more than his own progress.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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