Pleading, the meeting costs you nothing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देई डोळे भेटी न धरीं संकोच । न घलीं कांहीं वेच तुजवरी ॥1॥
तुज बुडवावें ऐसा कोण धर्म । अहनिनशीं नाम घेतां थोडें ॥ध्रु.॥
फार थोडें काहीं करूनि पातळ । त्याजमध्यें काळ कडे लावूं ॥2॥
आहे माझी ते चि सारीन सिदोरी । भार तुजवरी नेदीं माझा ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मां लेंकराची जाती । भेटावया खंती वाटतसे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Grant me the sight of You; do not hold back. I place no burden of expense upon You. Taking Your name day and night costs so little. Settle accounts however You wish, little or much; let us use this time to cross over. I carry my own provisions; I will not place my weight on You. Says Tuka, we are like children by nature; we ache for the meeting.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Give me the sight of you, the meeting. Do not hold back. I lay no charge of expense on you. What kind of law is it that would let you sink me? Taking your name day and night costs so little. Settle the account however you like, large or small; let us use this time to cross over. I carry my own provisions; I will not put my weight on you. Tuka says: we are children by nature, and we ache for the meeting.
What it means
Tukaram argues that there is no reason for God to withhold himself, since meeting him costs God nothing at all. He frames it in the language of debt and accounts: he is not asking God to spend anything, only to show his face, and he even insists he brings his own provisions so he will not be a burden. The bargaining is a way of removing every excuse for the delay, pressing the point that grace is free to give. Underneath the ledger language is the real claim of the closing line: he and the other devotees are simply children, and a child's ache to see the parent needs no further justification.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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