Devotion, undeserved haste of grace
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय पुण्य ऐसें आहे मजपाशीं । तांतडी धांवसी पांडुरंगा ॥1॥
काय ऐसा भक्त वांयां गेलों थोर । तूं मज समोर होसी वेगा ॥ध्रु.॥
काय कष्ट माझे देखिली चाकरी । तो तूं झडकरी पाचारिशी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाहीं ठाउकें संचित । येणें जन्महित नाहीं केलें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What merit do I possess that You rush toward me so eagerly, O Panduranga? Am I such a great devotee that You should appear before me with such haste? Have You seen my laborious service and called me near so swiftly? Says Tuka, I do not know my store of past deeds; in this birth I have done nothing to merit such grace.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What merit do I have, that You come running to me in such a hurry, Panduranga? Am I such a great devotee that You appear before me so fast? Have You seen some hard service of mine, that You call me near so quickly? Tuka says: I do not know my store of past deeds. In this birth I have done nothing to earn this.
What it means
Tukaram is amazed, not proud, that God rushes toward him. He runs through the obvious reasons one by one, merit, greatness as a devotee, hard service rendered, and rejects each as not true of him. He cannot point to any past store of good deeds, and he plainly says this life has earned nothing. The poem leaves only one explanation standing, unspoken but clear: God's haste is sheer grace, given to one who has no claim on it. The wonder is the whole point; deserving was never the cause.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →