Bargaining with God for grace
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
द्याल माळ जरी पडेन मी पायां । दंडवत वांयां कोण वेची ॥१॥
आलें तें हिशोबें अवघिया प्रमाण । द्यावें तरी दान मान होतो ॥ध्रु.॥
मोकळिया मनें घ्याल जरी सेवा । प्रसाद पाठवा लवकरी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुम्ही जालिया कृपण । नामाची जतन मग कैची ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If you grant me the garland, I will fall at your feet; who wastes a prostration for nothing? Everything proceeds by measure and proportion; if you give, let it be a real gift, and honor follows. If you will receive my service with an open heart, then send the consecrated offering quickly. Says Tuka, if you become miserly, how will the treasury of the Name be preserved?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If you give me the garland, I will fall at your feet; who spends a prostration for nothing? Everything that comes does so by measure and proportion; if you give, let it be a real gift, and honor follows. If you will take my service with an open heart, then send the offering quickly. Tuka says: if you turn miserly, how then will the treasury of the Name be kept safe?
What it means
Tukaram half-playfully drives a bargain with God over grace. He says he will bow and prostrate, but he wants the garland of acceptance in return, refusing to waste his devotion on nothing. He asks God to be a real giver and to receive his service freely, sending back the prasad without delay. The sting is in the last line: he warns God that if God turns stingy with grace, the very treasury of the Name, the wealth of devotion that depends on God's open hand, will not be kept. It is the bold, teasing intimacy of a devotee who feels free to hold God to account.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
More in this theme →