Prayer, the servant's claim on God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जालों तंव साचें । दास राहवणें काचें ॥1॥
हें कां मिळतें उचित । तुह्मी नेणा कृपावंत ॥ध्रु.॥
सिंहाचें ते पिलें । जाय घेऊनियां कोल्हें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नास । आह्मां ह्मणविलियां दास॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having truly become Your servant, my hold on the world has grown fragile. Does this seem right to You, O compassionate One, that You do not see? A lion's cub is carried off by a jackal. Says Tuka, if we are called Your servants, then our destruction would be Your shame.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Once I truly became Yours, my grip on the world went soft. Is this fair, then, O compassionate One, that You do not see? The lion's own cub is carried off by a jackal. Tuka says: it would be Your ruin if those who are called Your servants are let go to waste.
What it means
Having given himself to God, Tukaram finds his hold on worldly things has loosened, and he turns this into an argument back at God. He asks the compassionate Lord why he is being left unseen, then sharpens it with an image: a lion's cub, which is to say one who belongs to the strong, should never be dragged off by a jackal. The poem presses a bold logic: a servant's neglect is the master's disgrace. So Tukaram stakes his safety not on his own merit but on God's honor, making God responsible for what happens to those who bear His name.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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