Prayer, demanding a single answer
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करावा उद्धार किंवा घ्यावी हारी । एका बोला िस्थरी राहें देवा ॥1॥
निरसनें माझा होईल संदेह । अवघें चि आहे मूळ पायीं ॥ध्रु.॥
राहिलों चिकटूण कांहीं चि न कळे । कोणा नेणों काळे उदय भाग्य ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Either grant deliverance or let me accept defeat; just be firm in one word, O God. By Your decisive answer, my doubt will be resolved; everything rests at the root of Your feet. I remain stuck, unable to understand anything. I do not know whose fortune is dark and whose rises.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Either lift me up or let me lose; just be firm in one word, O God. When You decide, my doubt will be gone; everything rests at the root of Your feet. I stay stuck, and I cannot understand anything. I do not know whose time is dark and whose fortune is rising.
What it means
Tukaram is done with suspense and asks God simply to settle it. Save him or let him be defeated, he says, but speak one firm word, because the not-knowing is worse than either outcome. He admits the whole matter lies at God's feet, not in his own hands. Then he names his real condition: stuck, baffled, unable to read his own situation, unsure whether this is his dark hour or the turn toward fortune. The prayer is for a verdict, any verdict, to end the limbo.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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