Prayer, the beggar settles accounts
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मी याचक तूं दाता । काय सत्य पाहों आतां ॥1॥
म्या तों पसरिला हात । करीं आपुलें उचित ॥ध्रु.॥
आह्मी घ्यावें नाम । तुह्मां समाधान काम ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवराजा । वाद खंडीं तुझा माझा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am the beggar, You are the giver; let us see what truth comes of this now. I have stretched out my hand; do what is fitting on Your part. Our task is to chant Your name; Your task is to grant us love and contentment. Says Tuka, O King of Gods, put an end to this dispute between You and me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am the beggar, You are the giver; now let us see what truth comes of it. I have stretched out my hand; do whatever is right on Your side. Our work is to take Your name; Your work is to give us peace and contentment. Tuka says: O King of Gods, end this dispute between You and me.
What it means
Tukaram speaks to God almost as one party in a contract, holding Him to His own role. The roles are fixed: a beggar can only beg, and a giver is bound to give, so Tuka has done his part by stretching out his hand and now waits to see whether God will do His. He divides the labor plainly: the devotee's duty is to chant the Name, God's duty is to grant the contentment that should follow. The dispute he asks to be settled is the gap between the chanting he keeps up and the peace he has not yet been given; he is pressing God, with a kind of bold tenderness, to make good on the bargain.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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