Devotion, soothe me with sweet words
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लडिवाळ ह्मणोनी निष्ठ न बोला । परी सांभािळला लागे घात ॥1॥
बहु वागवीत आणिलें दुरूनि । दासांची पोसनी बहु आहे ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं लागों दिला आघाताचा वारा । निष्ठ उत्तरा कोमेजतों ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुह्मी कृपावंत हरि । शांतवा उत्तरीं अमृताच्या ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Calling me a beloved child, You do not speak harshly, yet the threat must be guarded against. You have carried me a long way with great tenderness, for You nurture many servants. You have not let the wind of harm touch me, though I wilt at even a stern word. Says Tuka, O merciful Hari, soothe me with the nectar of Your words.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Because you call me your darling child, you never speak to me harshly. Still, the danger has to be guarded against. You have carried me a long way with great tenderness, for you raise and feed many servants. You have not let even the wind of harm touch me, and yet I wilt at a single stern word. Tuka says: you are merciful, O Hari; soothe me with words of nectar.
What it means
Tukaram describes how gently God has handled him and admits his own fragility. He has been carried far, sheltered so completely that not even the breeze of harm has reached him, like one child among the many the Lord raises. Yet he confesses how tender he is: a single hard word would make him wilt. The prayer is small and honest, asking only for sweetness of speech, for nectar instead of sternness. It is the request of a soul that knows it is safe and still pleads to be spoken to softly, trusting the Lord's mercy to meet its weakness.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
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