Faith, remember God in sorrow
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पहा ते पांडव अखंड वनवासी । परि त्या देवासी आठविती ॥1॥
प्रल्हादासी पिता करितो जाचणी । परि तो स्मरे मनीं नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
सुदामा ब्राह्मण दरिद्रें पीडिला । नाहीं विसरला पांडुरंग ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुझा न पडावा विसर । दुःखाचे डोंगर जाले तरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Look at the Pandavas, forever in exile in the forest, yet they never ceased remembering God. Prahlada's own father tormented him, yet he held Narayana in his mind. Sudama the Brahmin was crushed by poverty, yet he never forgot Panduranga. Says Tuka, may I never forget You, even if mountains of sorrow pile upon me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Look at the Pandavas. They lived in the forest in endless exile, yet they kept remembering God. Prahlada's own father tortured him, yet he held Narayana in his mind. Sudama the brahmin was crushed by poverty, yet he never forgot Panduranga. Tuka says: may I never forget you, even if mountains of sorrow pile on me.
What it means
Tukaram lines up three who suffered and held on, and turns their example into a prayer for himself. The Pandavas in their long forest exile, Prahlada under his father's torment, Sudama ground down by poverty: each kept God in mind through the worst of it. The point is that hardship is no excuse to forget; the ones we honor are precisely the ones who remembered while it hurt. So Tukaram asks for only this strength: that even if grief stacks up like mountains, the memory of Panduranga will not slip from him.
Faith and Trust
The boldness of faith, steadfastness, and the security of trusting in God.
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