Surrender to the Mother, plea for peace
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ह्मणऊनि धरिले पाय । अवो माय विठ्ठले ॥1॥
आपुलें चि करूनि घ्यावें । आश्वासावें आह्मास ॥ध्रु.॥
वाढली ते तळमळ चिंता । शम आतां करावी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जीवीं वसे । मज नसे वेगळी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
That is why I have held Your feet, O Mother Vitthal. Make me Your own and give me Your assurance. This growing restlessness and worry within me must now be calmed. Says Tuka, You dwell within my very being and are never apart from me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
That is why I have held Your feet, O Mother Vitthal. Make me Your own, and give me Your assurance. This restlessness and worry have grown in me; calm them now. Tuka says: You live within my life, and You are never apart from me.
What it means
Tukaram clings to God as a child to a mother, addressing Vitthal as Mother and gripping the feet. His two requests are simple: claim me as Your own, and give me the reassurance I need. The trouble he brings is a swelling restlessness and anxiety, and he asks plainly that it be quieted. The ground of his confidence is in the last line: this God is not far off but dwells within his own life, never separate, so the comfort he asks for is already close at hand.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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