Surrender, plea at the feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करूनि विनवणी । माथा ठेवितों चरणीं ॥1॥
होतें तें चि असों द्यावें । रूप सौम्य चि बरवें ॥ध्रु.॥
भया भेणें तुमचा ठाव । तुमच्या कोपें कोठें जावें ॥2॥
तुका पायां लागे । दान समुदाय मागे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Having made my plea, I place my head at Your feet. Let things remain as they are; may Your countenance ever be gentle. Out of fear I came to Your refuge; if You should be angry, where else shall I go? Says Tuka, I fall at Your feet and beg this boon for the entire assembly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I make my plea and lay my head at your feet. Let what is stay as it is; only keep your face gentle and kind. I came to your refuge out of fear. If you turn angry, where else can I go? Tuka says: I fall at your feet, and I beg this gift for all of us together.
What it means
Tukaram comes empty, asking for almost nothing: not a change in his circumstances, only that the Lord's face stay gentle toward him. He admits the bare truth of why he came, out of fear, and names the trap that follows from it: a refuge is no refuge if the one you fled to can himself grow angry, for then there is nowhere left to run. So he does not bargain; he simply lays his head down and trusts. And he widens the prayer at the end, asking the boon not for himself alone but for the whole assembly of devotees.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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