Exhortation, take refuge now
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
किती रांडवडे । घालूनि व्हाल रे बापुडे । संसाराचे भिडे । कासावीस जालेती ॥1॥
माझ्या स्वामी शरण रिघा । कृपाळुवा पांडुरंगा । ठेवी अंगसंगा । विश्वासियां जवळी ॥ध्रु.॥
कांहीं न मागतां भलें । होईल तें चि काम केलें । नसावें आथिलें। कांहीं एका संकल्पें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भाव । पाववील ठायाठाव । एकविध जीव । ठेविलिया सेवेसी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
How many troubles will you endure before you become utterly helpless? You are tormented and worn down by the demands of worldly life. Take refuge in my Lord, the compassionate Panduranga. He keeps His faithful ones close by His side. Without asking for anything, the right thing will happen of its own accord. Hold no wish other than a single-pointed surrender. Says Tuka, sincere devotion will bring you to the right place, if you dedicate your life wholly to His service.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How many sorrows will you carry, you poor soul, before you give up? The pressures of worldly life have left you tormented and worn. Go and take refuge with my Lord, the merciful Panduranga. He keeps those who trust him close beside him, body against body. Without your asking for anything, the right thing gets done on its own. Hold no other wish than a single, undivided surrender. Tuka says: true feeling will bring you to your place, if you give your whole life to his service.
What it means
Tukaram is pleading with someone exhausted by the demands of daily life. His point is that you keep absorbing blow after blow and waiting until you are completely helpless, when the way out is open now: take shelter in Panduranga. He promises that God draws the trusting one physically near and arranges what is needed without being asked. The condition is total, single-pointed surrender, wanting nothing else. The closing line names the stakes: it is sincere devotion, not bargaining, that carries a life to its true resting place, and only a life given wholly to that service arrives.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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