Prayer, the real thing, not glass
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कृपेचा ओलावा । दिसे वेगळा चि देवा ॥1॥
मी हें इच्छीतसें साचें । न लगे फुकटशाई काचें ॥ध्रु.॥
जेणें जाय कळसा। पाया उत्तम तो तैसा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे घरीं । तुझ्या अवघिया परी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The moisture of your grace, O God, is visibly something apart. What I desire is the genuine thing; I have no use for a worthless imitation made of glass. The foundation must be sound if the pinnacle is to hold. Says Tuka, I want everything in your household to be real and whole.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The moisture of your grace, O God, is plainly something apart. What I want is the true thing; I have no use for a worthless fake made of glass. The foundation must be sound if the pinnacle is to hold. Tuka says: I want everything in your house to be real.
What it means
Tukaram is praying for the genuine touch of grace and refusing every counterfeit. He sees that God's grace is unmistakably real, set apart from anything that merely imitates it, and he insists he will not be fobbed off with cheap glass that only looks like the jewel. He reaches for a builder's image: a tower only stands if its foundation is sound, so the inner reality must be true for the outward life to hold. His whole request is that nothing in God's household be false; he wants the real thing all the way through.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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