Pleading, the mother's milk overflows
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मागितल्यास आस करा । उरी धरा कांहींबाहीं ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि सारिली आस । होती यास मूळ तें ॥ध्रु.॥
माझ्या मोहें तुज पान्हा । लोटे स्तना वोरस ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आळवणे । माझ्या देणें उत्तर ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If You have been asked, then fulfill the wish; keep something of Yourself in reserve if You must. That is why all hope was channeled to You, for You are the root of it all. Your love for me makes the milk of Your breast overflow. Says Tuka, my pleading is itself Your gift, and Your answer is my due.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If I have asked, then grant it; keep a little of Yourself in reserve if You must. That is why I sent all my hope to You, for You are its root. My love for You makes the milk of Your breast overflow. Tuka says: my pleading is itself Your gift, and Your answer is owed to me.
What it means
Tukaram makes his case for being heard, and the tenderness is striking. He asks God to fulfill what he has begged for, allowing that God may hold something back, but God is the source of every hope, so to God his whole longing was rightly sent. He pictures God as a nursing mother whose milk flows down at the sight of her child's need: Tukaram's love draws God's grace out by its own nature. He even claims his crying out is something God gave him, which means an answer is no favor but a debt. This is the logic of a child certain of its mother.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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