Surrender, holding God to his name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां मज तारीं । वचन हें साच करीं ॥1॥
तुझें नाम दिनानाथ । िब्रदावळी जगविख्यात ॥ध्रु.॥
कोण लेखी माझ्या दोषा । तुझा त्रिभुवनीं ठसा ॥2॥
वांयां जातां मज । तुका ह्मणे तुह्मां लाज ॥3॥
मायबाप चुलता बंधु । अवघा तुजशीं संबंधु ॥ध्रु.॥
उभयकुळींसाक्ष। तूं चि माझा मातुळपक्ष ॥2॥
समपिनली काया । तुका ह्मणे पंढरिराया॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Save me now; make Your word come true. Your name is Lord of the Lowly; Your fame is renowned across the world. Who can count my faults when Your seal is upon all three worlds? Says Tuka, if I am lost, the shame is Yours. Mother, father, uncle, brother: all my relations are with You alone. In both clans You are my witness; You alone are my maternal kin. Says Tuka, I have surrendered this body to You, O Lord of Pandhari.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Save me now. Make your word come true. Your name is Lord of the Lowly; your fame is known across the world. Who can count up my faults, when your seal is set on all three worlds? Tuka says: if I am lost, the shame is yours. Mother, father, uncle, brother: all my kinship is with you alone. In both my families you are the witness; you yourself are my mother's side. Tuka says: I have given over this body to you, O Lord of Pandhari.
What it means
Tukaram pleads to be saved and then presses God with God's own reputation: you are called Lord of the Lowly, so live up to the name. He refuses to let his sins be the measure; against the One whose mark is on all three worlds, what is a tally of faults? Then he turns the responsibility around: if a man who has surrendered is still lost, the disgrace falls on his protector, not on him. He names God as every relation he has, mother, father, uncle, brother, his entire family on both sides, so there is no one else to turn to. The body is handed over to Vitthal of Pandhari, and with it the whole burden of being saved.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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