Urgent plea, come running
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कां हो पांडुरंगा न करा धांवणें । तरि मज कोणें सोडवावें ॥1॥
तुझा ह्मणऊनि आणिकापें उभा । राहों हें तों शोभा नेदी आतां ॥ध्रु.॥
काळें पुरविली पाठी दुरवरी । पुढें पायां धीरी राहों नेदी ॥2॥
नको आणूं माझें संचित मनासी । पावन आहेसी पतितां तूं ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे चाले आणिकांची सत्ता । तुज आळवितां नवल हें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why, O Panduranga, do You not come running? If not You, then who will deliver me? Having called myself Yours, I cannot stand before anyone else for help. That would bring no honor now. Time has pursued me from afar, and ahead, fear will not let me stand firm at Your feet. Do not bring my past karma to mind. You are the purifier of the fallen. Says Tuka, when the power of others prevails, is it any wonder that my calling out to You goes unanswered?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why, O Panduranga, do You not come running? If not You, then who will set me free? Having called myself Yours, I cannot now go and stand before anyone else for help; that would bring You no honor now. Time has chased me from far off, and ahead, fear will not let me stand firm at Your feet. Do not bring my past karma to mind. You are the purifier of the fallen. Tuka says: when the power of others holds sway over me, is it strange that my calling out to You goes unheard?
What it means
Tukaram cries out at God for delaying, and presses Him with the logic of belonging: having publicly called himself God's own, he cannot go begging anyone else, and to be left stranded would shame God's name, not just his own. He describes being squeezed from both sides, the past pursuing him like time itself and fear ahead keeping him from a firm footing at the feet. So he asks God to forget his accumulated karma and act as what He is called, the purifier of the fallen. The final line is half complaint, half plea: while other powers, his karma and his fear, still rule him, no wonder his prayer seems to go unanswered, which is exactly why he needs God to break in.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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