Prayer, longing for the saints' leavings
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुमचे स्तुतियोग्य कोटें माझी वाणी । मस्तक चरणीं ठेवीतसें ॥1॥
भक्तिभाग्य तरी नेदीं तुळसीदळ । जोडूनि अंजुळ उभा असें ॥ध्रु.॥
कैचें भाग्य ऐसें पाविजे संनिध । नेणें पाळूं विध करुणा भाकीं ॥2॥
संतांचे सेवटीं उिच्छष्टाची आस । करूनियां वास पाहातसें ॥3॥
करीं इच्छा मज ह्मणोत आपुलें । एखादिया बोलें निमित्याच्या ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे शरण आलों हें साधन । करितों चिंतन रात्रदिवस ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My tongue is not worthy of praising You. I place my head at Your feet. If devotion were my destiny, I would offer even a tulsi leaf. With folded hands, I stand before You. What fortune could bring me so close to You? I do not know how to observe proper form; I simply cry for mercy. At the end of the saints' feast, I wait, hoping for a taste of their leftover grace. My one desire is that someone call me their own, even through a chance word. Says Tuka, having come to You in surrender, that is my spiritual practice. I contemplate You day and night.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My tongue is not worthy to praise You. I lay my head at Your feet. If devotion were my portion, I would offer even one tulsi leaf. With folded hands I stand before You. What fortune could let me come so near? I do not know how to keep the proper forms; I only cry for mercy. At the end of the saints' feast I wait, longing for a taste of their leftovers. My one wish is that someone call me their own, even by a chance word. Tuka says: I have come to You in surrender, and that is my whole practice. I think of You night and day.
What it means
Tukaram approaches God as one with nothing to offer but need. He confesses his tongue cannot praise worthily and he does not know the correct rituals; all he can do is bow and beg for mercy. He reaches not even for God directly but for the saints' leftovers, hoping a scrap of their grace might fall to him, and he aches for someone, anyone, to claim him as their own. The point is that surrender and ceaseless remembrance are themselves his only spiritual practice; he stakes everything on humility and the company of the holy rather than on his own worthiness.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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