Prayer, the ocean of mercy
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
समर्थ या नांवें दिनांचा कृपाळ । हें तंव सकळ स्वामीअंगीं ॥1॥
मज काय लागे करणें विनवणी । विदित चरणीं सकळ आहे ॥ध्रु.॥
दयासिंधु तुह्मां भांडवल दया । सिंचावें आतां या कृपापीयूषें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे अवो पंढरिनिवासे । बहु जीव आसे लागलासे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The powerful one is by nature compassionate to the lowly. This quality belongs entirely to the Lord. Why should I need to make any plea? Everything is already known at His feet. You are an ocean of mercy, and compassion is Your very capital. Sprinkle me now with the nectar of Your grace. Says Tuka, O dweller of Pandhari, my life yearns intensely for You.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Your very name, the Almighty, means kind to the lowly. That quality belongs wholly to you, my Lord. What plea do I even need to make? Everything is already known at your feet. You are an ocean of mercy; compassion is your one capital. Sprinkle me now with the nectar of your grace. Tuka says: O dweller of Pandhari, this life longs for you with all its heart.
What it means
Tukaram rests his prayer on God's own nature rather than on his own words. To be Almighty, he says, is by definition to be kind to the lowly, so mercy is not a favor God grants but the very stock God trades in, an ocean of it. Because God already knows everything at his feet, no elaborate plea is needed; he only asks to be sprinkled with the nectar of grace. The poem ends in pure longing: his whole life yearns for the dweller of Pandhari, trusting that mercy must answer because mercy is who God is.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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