Prayer, the saints' recommendation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कृपाळू सज्जन तुह्मी संतजन । हें चि कृपादान तुमचें मज ॥1॥
आठवण तुह्मी द्यावी पांडुरंगा । कींव माझी सांगा काकुलती ॥ध्रु.॥
अनाथ अपराधी पतिताआगळा । परि पायांवेगळा नका करूं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुह्मी निरविल्यावरि । मग मज हरि उपेक्षीना ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O compassionate saints, grant me this one mercy. Remind Panduranga of me; tell Him of my pitiful entreaty. I am helpless, sinful, worse than the fallen, yet do not separate me from His feet. Says Tuka, once you have recommended me, Hari will not neglect me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Compassionate ones, you saints, grant me this one mercy. Remind Panduranga of me. Tell him of my pitiful plea. I am helpless, sinful, lower than the fallen; yet do not keep me away from his feet. Tuka says: once you have spoken for me, Hari will not neglect me.
What it means
Tukaram approaches God not directly but through the saints, asking them to put in a word. He owns his condition without softening it: helpless, sinful, worse than the fallen. Yet even so he begs not to be cut off from God's feet. The trust at the end is the heart of it: he believes the saints' recommendation carries weight, that once they speak for him Hari cannot ignore him. The poem shows how the company of holy people becomes the bridge to grace.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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