Plea for grace, do not withdraw it
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हे चि वेळ देवा नका मागें घेऊं । तुह्मांविण जाऊं शरण कोणा ॥1॥
नारायणा ये रे पाहें विचारून । तुजविण कोण आहे मज ॥ध्रु.॥
रात्रहि दिवस तुज आठवूनि आहें । पाहातोसी काये सत्त्व माझें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे किती येऊं काकुलती । कांहीं माया चित्तीं येऊं द्यावी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O God, do not withdraw this moment of grace. Without You, to whom shall I go for refuge? O Narayana, come, consider this: who do I have besides You? Day and night I remember You ceaselessly. What are You testing in my sincerity? Says Tuka, how many more times must I plead? Let some compassion arise in Your chitta.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This is the very moment, God; do not take it back. Without you, to whom would I go for refuge? Come, Narayana, and think it over: who do I have besides you? Day and night I remember you, without stopping. What are you weighing in me? What are you testing? Tuka says: how many more times must I plead? Let a little tenderness for me come into your heart.
What it means
Tukaram catches God in a moment of grace and begs him not to withdraw it. He has nowhere else to turn, so he reasons with God directly: if there is no other refuge, why hold back? He has kept God in mind night and day, and he cannot understand what is still being tested or weighed in him. The poem is the prayer of someone worn out by waiting, asking not for proof but simply for a little mercy to rise in God's heart.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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