Prayer, do not push me away
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जाणतें लेकरूं । माता लागे दूर धरूं ॥1॥
तैसें न करीं कृपावंते । पांडुरंगे माझे माते ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं मुक्ताफळा । भेटी मागुती त्या जळा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे लोणी । ताक सांडी निवडूनि॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A mother keeps a knowing child at a distance. Do not do so with me, O gracious Panduranga, O my mother. The pearl once detached from its shell does not return to those waters. Says Tuka, butter, once separated, cannot rejoin the buttermilk.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A mother lets a grown child go far from her. Do not do that to me, merciful one, Panduranga, my mother. The pearl, once taken from the shell, does not return to that water. Tuka says: butter, once churned out, leaves the buttermilk for good. It will not go back in.
What it means
Tukaram prays to God as a mother and asks not to be set at a distance. A mother trusts a knowing, grown child to fend for itself and keeps it a little apart; he begs God not to treat him that way, but to hold him close. The two images carry the fear underneath the prayer: a pearl drawn from its shell does not slip back into the sea, and butter once churned out cannot be poured back into the buttermilk. Some separations are final, so he pleads to be kept near now, before the parting becomes one that nothing can mend.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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