Prayer, the pilgrim's only wishes
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जालों आतां दास । माझी पुरवीं हे आस ॥1॥
पंढरीचा वारकरी । वारी चुकों नेदीं हरी ॥ध्रु.॥
संतसमागम । अंगीं भरोनियां प्रेम ॥2॥
चंद्रभागे स्नान । तुका ह्मणे हें चि दान ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have now become Your servant; fulfill this longing of mine. Let me be a pilgrim of Pandhari, and let Hari never allow me to miss the annual pilgrimage. In the company of saints, may love fill my being. Says Tuka, bathing in the Chandrabhaga is all the gift I ask.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now I have become your servant. Fulfill this longing of mine. Make me a pilgrim of Pandhari. Hari, never let me miss the pilgrimage. Let love fill my body in the company of the saints. Tuka says: a bath in the Chandrabhaga, that is the only gift I ask.
What it means
Now that he belongs to God, Tukaram names the small, exact things he wants. He asks only to remain a Varkari, one of the pilgrims who walk to Pandharpur, and never to miss the yearly walk. The rest of his prayer is just as humble: the company of saints, love filling his body, a bath in the river Chandrabhaga that flows past the temple. He wants no heaven and no power; the pilgrimage, the saints, and the river are the whole of what he calls a gift.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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