Devotion, the child's babbling praise
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करूं स्तुती तरि ते निंदा । तुह्मी जाणां हे गोविंदा॥1॥
आह्मां लडिवाळांचे बोल । करा कवतुकें नवल ॥ध्रु.॥
बोबडएा उत्तरीं । तुह्मा रंजवितों हरी ॥2॥
मागतों भातुकें । तुका ह्मणे कवतुकें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If we attempt to praise You, even that becomes insufficient, O Govinda, as You already know. Take the babbling words of us, Your playful children, as a charming wonder. With stammering speech I try to please You, O Hari. Says Tuka, like a child, I beg for trinkets with innocent delight.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If we try to praise you, even that praise falls short, O Govinda; you know this already. We are your playful children. Take our words as a charming wonder. With stammering, half-formed speech I try to please you, O Hari. Tuka says: like a child, I beg you for little treats, in pure delight.
What it means
Tukaram measures his praise against God and admits it can only fall short, then turns that shortfall into tenderness. He casts himself and the devotees as small children whose words are babble, and asks God to receive that babble fondly, the way a parent delights in a child's first sounds. The point is not skill but love: stammering speech offered in delight pleases God more than polished eloquence. His closing image, a child begging for little treats, keeps the whole relationship playful and intimate rather than solemn.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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