Longing, the beggar who will not leave
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मी तव बैसलों धरुनियां ध्यास । न करीं उदास पांडुरंगा ॥1॥
नको आतां मज दवडूं श्रीहरी । मागाया भिकारी जालों दास ॥ध्रु.॥
भुकेलों कृपेच्या वचनाकारणें । आशा नारायणें पुरवावी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे येऊनियां देई भेटी । कुरवाळुनी पोटीं धरीं मज ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have sat down holding fast to my resolve; do not turn me away, O Panduranga. Do not send me off now, O Hari; I have become a beggar at Your door. I am hungry for a word of Your grace; O Narayana, fulfill this hope. Says Tuka, come and give me Your embrace; caress me and hold me close to Your bosom.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have sat down here, holding fast to my one resolve; do not leave me desolate, Panduranga. Do not drive me away now, Shrihari. To beg from you, I have become your servant. I am hungry for a word of your grace. O Narayana, fulfill this hope. Tuka says: come and meet me; caress me and hold me close against your chest.
What it means
Tukaram has parked himself at God's door and refuses to move until he is answered. He calls himself a beggar who became a servant only so he would have the right to ask, which turns devotion into a kind of holy stubbornness. What he is starving for is small and enormous at once: a single word of grace. The closing line drops all dignity and asks for something physical and tender, to be pulled into an embrace and held to the chest, the way a child is held by a parent who finally comes.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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