Prayer, claim your servant's authority
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कां जी आह्मां होतें दोषाचें दर्शन । तुज समर्पून देहभाव ॥1॥
पांडुरंगा कृपाळुवा दयावंता । धरसील सत्ता सकळ ही ॥ध्रु.॥
कां जी आह्मांवरि आणिकांची सत्ता । तुह्मांसी असता जविळकें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पायीं केलें निवेदन । उचित तें दान करीं सत्ता ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why, O Lord, was sin allowed to appear before my eyes, when I had offered You my body and soul? O compassionate and merciful Panduranga, will You not take charge of everything? Why should others have authority over me when You are so near? Says Tuka, I have placed everything at Your feet; now grant me the gift that is rightfully mine.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why, O Lord, was sin allowed to appear before my eyes, when I had handed my body and self over to you? O Panduranga, kind one, full of mercy, you hold authority over all of this. Why should others have power over me, when you are so near? Tuka says: I have laid everything at your feet. Now give me the gift that is rightly mine, by your own authority.
What it means
Tukaram presses a claim on God like a servant who has paid his side of the bargain. He has already surrendered body and self, so he asks why sin and other masters should still get any hold over his eyes and his life. The frame he insists on is divine sovereignty: Panduranga rules everything and stands near, so no rival authority has any business over a soul already given to him. The poem lands as a demand made in trust, that God exercise his power, honor the surrender already made, and grant the rightful gift of belonging wholly to him.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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