Prayer, holding God to His name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां चक्रधरा । झणी आह्मांस अव्हेरा ॥1॥
तुमचीं ह्मणविल्यावरी । जैसीं तैसीं तरी हरी ॥ध्रु.॥
काळ आह्मां खाय । तरी तुझें नांव जाय ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । आतां पण सिद्धी न्यावा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Wielder of the Discus, do not cast us aside now. Having called us Your own, You must care for us, O Hari, however we may be. If death devours us, it is Your name that will suffer. Says Tuka, O God, now bring Your promise to fulfillment.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now, O Wielder of the Discus, do not cast us off. Once You have called us Your own, then somehow or other carry us across, O Hari. If death devours us, it is Your name that suffers the loss. Tuka says: O God, now bring Your vow to its fulfillment.
What it means
Tukaram presses a claim on God by way of God's own commitment. Since the Lord has already called these devotees His own, the responsibility is now His to ferry them across, whatever their condition. The leverage is bold: if the devotee is swallowed by death and lost, it is God's reputation, His very name, that takes the damage. So the prayer is not only for the soul's sake but for God's honor: complete the promise You made, and bring it through to the end.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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