Prayer, asking only for devotion
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तूंचि अनाथाचा दाता । दुःख मोह नासावया चिंता । शरण आलों तुज आतां । तारीं कृपावंता मायबापा ॥1॥
संतसंगति देई चरणसेवा । जेणें तुझा विसर न पडावा । हा च भाव माझिया जीवा । पुरवीं देवा मनोरथ ॥2॥
मज भाव प्रेम देई कीर्ती । गुण नाम वर्णावया स्तुती । विघ्नां सोडवूनि हातीं । विनंती माझी परिसावी हे ॥3॥
आणीक कांहीं नाहीं मागणें । सुखसंपित्तराज्यचाड धन । सांकडें न पडे तुज जेणें । दुजें भक्तीविण मायबापा ॥4॥
जोडोनियां कर पायीं ठेवीं माथा । तुका विनवी पंढरिनाथा । रंगीं वोडवावी रंगकथा । पुरवीं व्यथा मायबापा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You alone are the benefactor of the helpless, the destroyer of sorrow, attachment, and anxiety. I have come to You now as a refuge; save me, O merciful mother and father. Grant me the company of saints and service at Your feet, so that I may never forget You. This is the sole wish of my heart; fulfill it, O God. Give me devotion, love, and the glory to praise Your virtues and name. Remove all obstacles from my path; please hear this prayer of mine. I ask for nothing else, no wealth, happiness, kingdom, or riches. Let me not burden You with anything other than devotion, O mother and father. With folded hands I place my head at Your feet. Says Tuka, appealing to the Lord of Pandhari, drench me in the color of Your story and relieve my suffering, O mother and father.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You alone are the giver to the orphan, the worry that destroys sorrow and attachment. I have come to you now for refuge. Save me, O merciful mother and father. Give me the company of saints and service at your feet, so that I never forget you. This is the one longing of my soul; fulfill my wish, O God. Give me feeling, love, and the gift to praise your virtues and your name. Take the obstacles out of my hands; please hear this request of mine. I ask for nothing else. No happiness, no riches, no kingdom, no wealth. Let me lay nothing on you, mother and father, but devotion. With folded hands I place my head at your feet. Tuka pleads with the Lord of Pandhari: bring out the story rich in color, relieve my pain, O mother and father.
What it means
Tukaram comes as a refugee and then is careful to ask for the right thing. He explicitly turns away wealth, comfort, kingdom, every prize people usually beg from God, and asks instead only for what keeps him near God: the company of saints, service at the feet, and the love and skill to praise the Name. The single danger he fears is forgetting, so his one petition is the means that prevents it. By insisting he wants to lay no other burden on God but devotion, he frees the prayer of all self-interest. He ends with his head literally at the feet of the Lord of Pandhari, asking only that the colorful story of God keep flowing and his pain be eased.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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