The only refuge at the hour of death
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आणीक म्यां कोणा यावें काकुळती । कोण कामा येती अंतकाळीं ॥1॥
तूं वो माझी सखी होसी पांडुरंगे । लवकरी ये गे वाट पाहें ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका ह्मणे माझी पुरवीं हे आस । घालीं ब्रह्मरस भोजन हें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
To whom else shall I appeal? Who else will be of help at the hour of death? You alone are my companion, O Panduranga; come quickly, I am watching the road for You. Says Tuka, fulfill this longing of mine; serve me the feast of divine nectar.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To whom else should I go and cry? Who else comes to my aid at the hour of death? You are my friend, O Panduranga. Come quickly; I am watching the road for You. Tuka says: fulfill this longing of mine. Set before me this feast, the food that is the taste of Brahman.
What it means
Tukaram is naming God as the one refuge precisely because the test is the moment of dying. He asks who else could possibly help then, and answers that no one can, so there is no point appealing elsewhere. He pictures himself waiting at the roadside, a friend watching for the friend who must come quickly. The longing he asks God to fulfill is not for relief alone but for the feast of divine taste, the nourishment of Brahman itself, the highest thing he can name.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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