Surrender, God plays no favorites
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पाहा किती आले शरण समान चि केले । नाहीं विचारिले गुण दोष कोणांचे ॥1॥
मज सेवटींसा द्यावा ठाव तयांचिये देवा । नाहीं करीत हेवा कांहीं थोरपणाचा ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं पाहिला आचार कुळगोत्रांचा विचार । फेडूं आला भार मग न ह्मणे दगड ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सर्वजाणा तुझ्या आल्यावरि मना । केला तो उगाणा घडल्या दोषांच्या ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
See how many have come to You for refuge, and You have treated them all alike. You have never examined anyone's virtues or faults. O God, grant me a place among them, even at the very end. I harbor no envy and make no claim to greatness. You never looked at caste, lineage, or conduct. Whoever came to lay down their burden, You never called them a mere stone. Says Tuka, O all-knowing One, once Your mind has turned toward someone, all their accumulated sins are wiped away.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
See how many have come to you for refuge. You treated them all the same. You never weighed anyone's virtues or faults. O God, give me a place among them, even at the very end. I am not jealous; I make no claim to greatness. You never looked at caste or lineage or conduct. Whoever came to lay down their burden, you never called them a mere stone. Tuka says: O all-knowing one, once your mind turns toward someone, all the sins they have piled up are wiped clean.
What it means
Tukaram is asking for a place among the saved, and he names the only ground he can stand on: God's refusal to sort people by merit. He points out that everyone who came for refuge was received the same way, with no audit of their good and bad deeds, no inspection of their caste or family or behavior. That is why he dares to ask only for the last place, with no envy and no claim to be special. The line about the stone is the heart of it: whoever brings their burden is treated as a living soul, never written off. And once God's attention settles on a person, the whole accumulated weight of their wrongs is cancelled.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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