Prayer, the rescuer of others
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सर्वापरी तुझे गुण गाऊं उत्तम । तुझेठायीं प्रेम राहो माझें ॥1॥
माउलीपरिस आहेसी उदार । तरि कां निष्ठ मन केलें॥ध्रु.॥
गजेंद्राकारणें केलें त्वां धांवणें । तरि कां निर्वाण पाहातोसी॥2॥
प्रल्हादास कष्टीं रिक्षलें तों देवा । तरि कां केशवा सांडी केली ॥3॥
अन्यायी अजामेळ तो जाला पावन । ऐसें हें पुराण हाका मारी ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे माझे थोर अपराध । नाम करी छेद क्षणमात्रें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
May I sing Your finest virtues in every possible way. May my love for You remain steady. You are more generous than a mother; why then have You made my mind so stubborn? For Gajendra's sake, You came running; why then do You watch my ordeal and wait? You rescued Prahlada from torment, O God; why then have You abandoned me? The sinful Ajamila was made pure; so the Puranas cry out. Says Tuka, my offenses are great, yet Your name cuts them away in an instant.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In every way let me sing your virtues well. Let my love for you stay steady. You are more generous than a mother; why then have you made my mind so hard? For the elephant king you came running; why then do you watch my crisis and wait? You saved Prahlada from his torment, God; why then have you cast me off, Keshava? The lawless Ajamila was made pure; the old story cries this aloud. Tuka says: my offenses are great, yet your Name cuts them off in a single moment.
What it means
Tukaram pleads by holding up the Lord's own record. He asks only to keep singing and to keep loving, then presses the contrast: a God kinder than a mother seems to have left his mind stubborn and dry. He recites the famous rescues, the elephant Gajendra pulled from the crocodile, the boy Prahlada saved from torment, the sinner Ajamila made pure, and turns each into a question, why them and not me. The argument lands on grace itself: his sins may be great, but if the Name purified even Ajamila, then it can cut his away in an instant too. The complaint is really an appeal to the mercy he is sure is there.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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