Prayer, come quickly Lord of Pandhari
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अगा पंढरीच्या राया । वेगीं येई तूं सावया ॥1॥
दीनबंधु तुझें नाम । देई आपुलें आह्मां प्रेम ॥ध्रु.॥
जीवनकळा तूं विश्वाची । तूं चि माउली अनाथाची ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पुंडलिका । ठेवीं मस्तकीं पादुका ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Lord of Pandhari, come quickly to my aid. 'Friend of the lowly' is Your Name; give me Your divine love. You are the life-giving art of the whole world, the Mother of the orphaned. Says Tuka, O Pundalik, place the Lord's sandals upon my head.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O King of Pandhari, come quickly to my aid. Friend of the lowly is Your Name; give us Your own love. You are the living power of the universe; You alone are the mother of the orphan. Tuka says: O Pundalik, place the Lord's sandals upon my head.
What it means
Tukaram is calling the Lord of Pandhari to come at once and is reminding Him of His own Name. If Vitthal is called the friend of the lowly, then the lowly may demand the love that the Name promises. He widens the appeal: this is the one who is the life of all the world and the mother of every orphan, so the orphaned have a claim on Him. At the close he turns to Pundalik, the devotee who first drew Vitthal to Pandhari, and asks for the simplest blessing: the Lord's sandals set on his head, surrender made visible.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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