Prayer, born among the Lord's lovers
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हरिदासाचिये घरीं । मज उपजवा जन्मांतरीं ॥1॥
ह्मणसी कांहीं मागा । हें चि देगा पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
संतां लोटांगणीं । जातां लाजों नको मनीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे अंगीं । शक्ती देई नाचें रंगीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let me be born in the household of a Hari-devotee in my next life. You say, ask for anything; this alone is what I ask, O Panduranga. When I prostrate before the saints, let me never feel shame in my mind. Says Tuka, give me the strength to dance with abandon in devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In the house of one who loves Hari, let me be born in my next life. You say, ask for something; this alone I ask, Panduranga. When I fall flat before the saints, let me feel no shame in my mind. Tuka says: put the strength in my body to dance with abandon in Your worship.
What it means
Offered any boon, Tukaram asks for nothing the world prizes; he asks only to be reborn into a household of devotees. The request shows what he values: not wealth or release in the abstract, but the company that keeps a soul turned toward God. He asks for two graces in particular, that he never feel embarrassed prostrating before the saints, and that his body have the strength to lose itself in dancing worship. It is a prayer to belong wholly to the world of bhakti, without the pride that holds a person back from it.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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