Prayer, holding God to His promise
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करावा उद्धार हें तुह्मां उचित । आह्मी केली नीत कळली ते ॥1॥
पाववील हाक धांवा ह्मणऊन । करावें जतन ज्याचें तेणें ॥ध्रु.॥
दुिश्चतासी बोल ठेवायासी ठाव । ऐसा आह्मी भाव जाणतसों ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It is fitting for You to grant deliverance; we have done our part as we understood it. When one calls out, the promise is that You will come running. Let each one guard what is theirs. We know Your nature: there is room even for doubtful words at Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To lift us up is right for You to do. We did our duty as we understood it. The promise is: call out, and You come running. Each one must guard what is his own. Tuka says: there is a place even for the doubter's words. Such is the trust we hold.
What it means
Tukaram is praying by reminding God of His own promise. He says deliverance is God's proper work, while the devotee's part, done as well as he knew how, is finished; now God is bound by the vow that whoever calls out, He comes running. The line that each must guard what is his own turns it back on God: these calling souls are God's charge to keep. Even the words of a wavering, doubtful heart, he trusts, have a place at God's feet, so he prays without needing to be flawless first.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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