Prayer, God as the nursing mother
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आमुची कृपाळू तूं होसी माउली । विठ्ठले साउली शरणागता ॥1॥
प्रेमपान्हा स्तनीं सदा सर्वकाळ । दृिष्ट हे निर्मळ अमृताची ॥ध्रु.॥
भूक तान दुःख वाटों नेदीं सीण । अंतरींचा गुण जाणोनियां ॥2॥
आशा तृष्णा माया चिंता दवडीं दुरी । ठाव आह्मां करीं खेळावया ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे लावीं संताचा सांगात । जेथें न पवे हात किळकाळाचा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You are our compassionate mother, O Vitthal, sheltering those who seek refuge. The milk of love flows ever from Your breast. Your gaze is pure and nectarous. You do not let hunger, thirst, sorrow, or weariness touch us, knowing well our inner nature. Drive far away desire, craving, illusion, and worry. Make a place for us to play freely. Says Tuka, keep me in the company of saints, where the hand of the shrieking one cannot reach.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You are our merciful mother, O Vitthal, the shade for those who come for refuge. The milk of love is in Your breast, always, at every hour; Your gaze is pure and full of nectar. You do not let hunger, thirst, sorrow, or weariness touch us, because You know the nature within us. Drive far away desire, craving, illusion, and worry. Make a place for us to play freely. Tuka says: keep me in the company of the saints, where the hand of the shrieking one cannot reach.
What it means
Tukaram prays to God as a mother, not a master, and asks to be cared for like a child at the breast. Vitthal is the shade for whoever takes refuge, the milk of love always flowing, the gaze that is pure nectar; a mother knows her child's inner state and shields it from hunger and pain. So he asks that desire, craving, illusion, and worry be carried far off, and that a safe space be cleared where he can simply play. The last line names the place of safety: the company of the saints, which he calls the one ground that death, the shrieking one, cannot reach into.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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