Prayer, the trusting child at the feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बाळाचें जीवन । माता जाणें भूक तान ॥1॥
काय करूं विनवणी । असो मस्तक चरणीं ॥ध्रु.॥
ठेविलिये ठायीं । चित्त ठेवुनि असें पायीं ॥2॥
करितों हे सेवा । चिंतन सर्वां ठायीं देवा॥3॥
न्यून तें चि पुरें । घ्यावें करोनि दातारें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे बुिद्ध । अल्प असे अपराधी ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A mother knows her child's hunger and thirst. What entreaty shall I make? Let my head simply rest at Your feet. I keep my mind fixed wherever You have placed it, at Your feet. I offer this service: contemplation of You in all things. Whatever is lacking, may You, the generous Lord, supply it. Says Tuka, my intellect is small and I am full of faults.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A mother knows her child's life. She knows its hunger and its thirst. What plea can I make? Let my head simply rest at your feet. Wherever you have set me, there I keep my mind, here at your feet. This is the service I do: to think of you in all things, God. Whatever is short, make it enough. Take it up and complete it, generous Lord. Tuka says: my intellect is small, and I am a man of faults.
What it means
Tukaram drops all argument and rests like an infant who needs no words, since the mother already knows its hunger and thirst. He makes no demand, only lays his head at the feet and keeps his mind exactly where God has placed it. The one service he claims is constant remembrance, thinking of God in everything. Knowing his own understanding is small and his faults many, he asks the generous Lord to make up whatever is lacking and finish what he cannot.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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