Trust, the child and the father
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय कळे बाळा । बाप सदैव दुबळा ॥१॥
आहे नाहीं हें न कळे । हातीं काय कोण्या वेळे ॥ध्रु.॥
देखिलें तें दृष्टी । मागे घालूनियां मिठी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे भावें । माझ्या मज समजावें ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What does a child know of whether its father is forever poor? It cannot tell what is and what is not, or what will come into its hands and when. Whatever it sees, it runs and clings to. Says Tuka, through my devotion, may You console me and make me understand.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What does a small child know? It does not know whether its father is poor for good. It cannot tell what there is and what there is not, or what will come into the father's hands and when. Whatever it sees in front of it, it runs and throws its arms around. Tuka says: with love, make my own self clear to me; help me understand.
What it means
Tukaram makes himself the small child and God the father, and the point is the child's complete unknowing. A child has no idea whether the family is poor or provided for, what is coming or when; it simply grasps whatever is in front of it. That ignorance is offered not as a fault but as the very ground of trust: the child does not need to understand the household's accounts to belong to the father. Out of that helplessness Tukaram makes his request, asking God in love to make him understand his own true self and condition, since he cannot reach it on his own.
Faith and Trust
The boldness of faith, steadfastness, and the security of trusting in God.
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