Prayer, the servant who asks only to be remembered
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संत पंढरीस जाती । निरोप धाडीं तया हातीं ॥1॥
माझा न पडावा विसर । तुका विनवितो किंकर ॥ध्रु.॥
केरसुणी महाद्वारीं । ते मी असें निरंतरीं ॥2॥
तुमचे पायीं पाइतन । मोचे माझे तन मन ॥3॥
तांबुलाची पिकधरणी । ते मी असें मुख पसरूनि ॥4॥
तुमची इष्टा पंढरीराया । ते सारसुबी माझी काया ॥5॥
लागती पादुका । ते मी तळील मृित्तका ॥6॥
तुका ह्मणे पंढरिनाथा। दुजें न धरावें सर्वथा ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Saints are going to Pandhari; I send my message through their hands. Let there be no forgetting of me; this is the humble plea of your servant Tuka. I am the broom at your great doorway, sweeping there forever. I am the dust beneath your feet; my body and mind are the rags that wipe your shoes. I am the ground that receives the spit of your betel; I sit with mouth wide open. Your beloved Pandhari, O Lord, is the very field in which my body is sown. Where your sandals fall, I am the clay beneath. Says Tuka, O Lord of Pandhari, let me never hold anything else within me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The saints are going to Pandhari; through their hands I send my message. Do not let me be forgotten. Tuka, your servant, makes this plea. I am the broom at your great gate; I am there forever. I am the dust on your feet; my body and mind are the cloth that wipes your shoes. I am the spittoon for your betel; I sit there with my mouth wide open. Your beloved Pandhari, O Lord, is the field where my body is sown. Where your sandals fall, I am the clay beneath them. Tuka says: O Lord of Pandhari, hold nothing else but me.
What it means
Tukaram cannot go to Pandhari himself, so he sends his message with the pilgrim saints: one plea, that the Lord not forget him. Then he names exactly how small a place he wants. Not a high seat, but the broom at the gate, the dust on the feet, the rag that wipes the shoes, the bowl that catches the spat-out betel, the clay under the sandals. Each image lowers him further, because nearness matters more to him than dignity. The final line turns the prayer back on God: as I keep nothing in my heart but you, you keep nothing in yours but me.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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