Devotion, asking only to be born again in service
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आमुचें उचित हे चि उपकार । आपला चि भार घालूं तुज ॥1॥
भूक लागलिया भोजनाची आळी । पांघुरणें काळीं शीताचिये ॥ध्रु.॥
जेणें काळें उठी मनाची आवडी । ते चि मागों घडी आवडे तें ॥2॥
दुःख येऊं नेदी आमचिया घरा । चक्र करी फेरा भोंवताला ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे नाहीं मुक्तीसवें चाड । हें चि आह्मां गोड जन्म घेतां ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The only gift we know how to give is to place our own burden upon You. When hunger strikes, we cry for food. When cold comes, we ask for a blanket. Whatever desire stirs in the chitta, that is what we beg for at that moment. Keep sorrow from entering our house; let the Sudarshana discus whirl its protective circle around us. Says Tuka, I have no desire for liberation. This alone is sweet to me: to take birth again and again in Your service.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The one fitting gift we can give is to lay our own burden on You. When hunger strikes, we cry out for food. When the cold comes, we ask for a blanket. Whatever the heart longs for at the moment, that is what we beg for then, whatever we like. Do not let sorrow come into our house. Let the discus whirl its circle around us. Tuka says: I have no craving for liberation. This is what is sweet to me: to take birth again and again in Your service.
What it means
Tukaram describes a childlike dependence that he treats as the truest offering: we have nothing to give God but our needs, so we hand Him the whole load. The small wants, food when hungry, a blanket when cold, are not dismissed but brought straight to God as a child brings everything to a parent. He asks for protection, picturing Krishna's discus spinning a guarding circle around the home. Then comes the radical turn that the rest of the poem sets up: he refuses even liberation, the prize most seekers crave. What he wants instead is to keep being born, life after life, only so he can go on serving and loving God, which he calls the one sweet thing.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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