Prayer, the touchstone and the iron
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आसावलें मन जीवनाचें ओढी । नामरूपीं गोडी लावियेली ॥1॥
काय तुझे पायीं नाहीं भांडवल । माझे मिथ्या बोल जाती ऐसे ॥ध्रु.॥
काय लोखंडाचे पाहे गुणदोष । सिवोन परीस सोनें करी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझें अवघें असों द्यावें । आपुलें करावें ब्रीद साच ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My mind thirsts and is drawn to the water of life. You have made me taste the sweetness of the Name and the divine form. Are Your feet lacking in some treasure, that my words should prove false? The touchstone does not examine the faults of iron; it simply touches and turns it to gold. Says Tuka, let all my failings remain as they are. Make Your own pledge come true.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My mind thirsts and is drawn to the water of life. You have made me taste the sweetness of the Name and the form. Are your feet short of treasure, that my false words should win out? Does the touchstone weigh the faults of iron? It only touches it and turns it to gold. Tuka says: let all that is mine stay as it is; only make your own pledge come true.
What it means
This is a prayer that rests the whole weight on God's nature rather than the devotee's worth. Tukaram admits his own thirst and his false words, then asks whether God's feet are so poor that such failings could defeat them. His central image is the touchstone, which does not inspect the rusty iron's flaws but simply transforms it into gold by contact. So he asks God not to wait for him to become worthy. He even leaves his own faults untouched, throwing the responsibility back on God: keep your own pledge to save, and let that, not my merit, be what decides.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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