Prayer, the child's claim on the Mother
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पढियंतें आम्ही तुजपाशीं मागावें । जीवींचें सांगावें हितगुज ॥१॥
पाळसील लळे दीन वो वत्सले । विठ्ठले कृपाळे जननिये ॥ध्रु.॥
जीव भाव तुझ्या ठेवियेला पायीं । तूं चि सर्वा ठायीं एक आम्हां ॥२॥
दुजियाचा संग लागों नेदीं वारा । नाहीं जात घरा आणिकांच्या ॥३॥
सर्वसत्ता एकी आहे तुजपाशीं । ठावें आहे देसी मागेन तें ॥४॥
म्हणउनि पुढें मांडियेली आळी । थिंकोनियां चोळी डोळे तुका ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What I must ask of you are intimate matters of the soul, whispered confidences. You who indulge the whims of the humble, O compassionate Vitthala, O Mother. My life and my devotion are placed at your feet; you alone are everything to me in all places. Do not let even the slightest breeze of another's company touch me; I will not go to anyone else's house. All power rests with you alone, and I know that whatever I ask, you will give. Says Tuka, therefore I lay out my plea before you, rubbing my eyes and weeping.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What I ask of you, I ask in private. I tell you the secret of my heart. You indulge the whims of the lowly, O tender one; O merciful Vitthala, O Mother. My life and my love I have laid at your feet. You alone are everything to me, in every place. Do not let another's company touch me, not even like a breeze. I do not go to anyone else's house. All power rests with you alone. You know it, and you will give what I ask. So I lay my plea before you. Tuka says: I rub my eyes and weep.
What it means
Tukaram comes to Vitthal the way a small child comes to its mother, asking with the certainty that he will be heard. He calls Vitthal Mother and asks in private, because what he wants is not a thing but the secret of his own heart. He renounces every other refuge: no other company, no other house, not even a stray breeze of attachment to anything else. His ground for asking is simple: all power belongs to Vitthal alone, so there is no point begging elsewhere. The poem ends not with an argument but with a child's weapon, tears, as Tuka rubs his eyes and cries until he is answered.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
More in this theme →