Prayer, the lowly one cared for
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सर्व भाग्यहीन । ऐसें सांभािळलों दीन ॥1॥
पायीं संतांचे मस्तक । असों जोडोनि हस्तक ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणें तरि सेवा । दीन दुर्बळ जी देवा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जीव । समर्पून भाकीं कींव ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am bereft of all fortune, yet even in this lowly state I have been cared for. Let me keep my head at the feet of the saints, hands joined in prayer. If You call me a servant, then know I am a poor and weak one, O God. Says Tuka, I offer my very life and beg for Your compassion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am stripped of all good fortune, yet even in this lowly state I have been cared for. Let me keep my head at the saints' feet, hands joined in prayer. If You will call me Your servant, then know I am a poor and weak one, O God. Tuka says: I offer my very life and beg for Your mercy.
What it means
Tukaram begins from total poverty of fortune, and then names the surprise: even so, he has been looked after. His response is to stay low, head at the feet of the saints with folded hands, asking for nothing higher. He does not hide his weakness; if God is to call him a servant, let it be understood that the servant is feeble and poor. The whole abhanga is an act of surrender: he hands over his life itself and asks only for compassion in return.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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