Prayer, a bold letter to God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विनवीजे ऐसें भाग्य नाहीं देवा । पायांशीं केशवा सलगी केली ॥1॥
धीटपणें पत्र लिहिलें आवडी । पार नेणे थोडी मति माझी ॥ध्रु.॥
जेथें देवा तुझा न कळे चि पार । तेथें मी पामर काय वाणूं ॥2॥
जैसे तैसे माझे बोल अंगीकारीं । बोबडएा उत्तरीं गौरवितों ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे विटेवरि जी पाउलें । तेथें म्यां ठेविलें मस्तक हें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not possess the fortune to make a proper plea, O God; I have dared to be familiar with Your feet, O Keshava. With boldness and love I have written this letter; my small intellect cannot fathom Your depths. Where even Your own measure is beyond knowing, what can a wretch like me describe? Accept my words as they are; I honor You with stammering speech. Says Tuka, upon that brick where Your feet rest, there I have placed my head.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not have the good fortune to make a proper plea, O God. I have dared to come close to your feet, Keshava. With boldness and with love I have written this letter. My small mind cannot reach your far shore. Where even your own measure cannot be known, what can a wretch like me describe? Take my words just as they are. I praise you with stammering speech. Tuka says: on the brick where your feet rest, there I have laid my head.
What it means
Tukaram confesses he has no standing to address God and no skill to praise him, yet he writes anyway out of pure familiarity and love. He admits his intellect cannot fathom God, who is beyond all measure, so he gives up on eloquence entirely and offers only broken, stammering words. The whole prayer rests on the difference between worth and welcome: he brings nothing fine, only a child's nerve to approach. The closing image is the surrender that makes the bold letter humble, his head laid on the brick at Pandhari where Vitthal's feet stand, all argument abandoned for bowing.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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