Prayer, the sinner asks for power
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
परिसोनि उत्तर । जाब देईजे सत्वर ॥1॥
जरी तूं होसी कृपावंत । तरि हा बोलावीं पतित ॥ध्रु.॥
नाणीं कांहीं मना । करूनि पापाचा उगाणा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाहीं । काय शक्ति तुझे पायीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Hear my case and give a swift reply. If You are truly gracious, then call this wrongdoer to You. Do not let the memory of sins enter Your mind. Says Tuka, is there no power left at Your feet?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Hear my case and answer me quickly. If You are truly full of mercy, then call this fallen man to You. Do not bring my sins to mind; cancel the whole account of them. Tuka says: is there no power left in Your feet?
What it means
Tukaram presses God for a swift verdict, as a man pleads before a judge who keeps him waiting. His argument turns God's own nature against any delay: if mercy is real, then mercy must reach exactly the fallen man, the one who needs it. He asks not for a fair reckoning but for the ledger of sins to be wiped out, the account closed and forgotten. The sharp final line is a dare dressed as a question: surely the feet that can save have not lost their strength, so let them prove it on me.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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