Prayer, fairness at the table
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुह्मां उद्धरणें फार । मज दुसरी नाहीं थार ॥1॥
आतां जैसें तैसें सोसा । काय करणें हृषीकेशा ॥ध्रु.॥
बरें न दिसेल ओळी । एका अन्न एका गाळी ॥2॥
लावितो आभार । तुका विखरलेती फार ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You have delivered many; I have no other refuge. Now bear with me as I am, O Hrishikesha; what else can be done? It will not look well if You give bread to one and curses to another in the same row. Says Tuka, I am making You work hard; You have scattered Yourself widely for our sake.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have delivered many; I have no other refuge. Now bear with me as I am, O Hrishikesha; what else can be done? It will not look right to give one person food and another curses in the same row. Tuka says: I keep loading You with the obligation; You have scattered Yourself widely for our sake.
What it means
Tukaram leans on God's record of rescuing others to claim a turn for himself, since he has nowhere else to go. He asks God to put up with him as he is, framing it almost as a problem God must solve. The sharp argument is one of fairness: if everyone is seated in the same row to be fed, it would be unseemly to serve one and scold the next. He admits he is making God work, and ends by noting that God has spread himself thin across countless devotees. The plea is for inclusion, not special treatment: only do not single me out to go without.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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