Asking only for what is mine
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मी शक्तिहीनें । कैसें कराल तें नेणें । लिगाडाच्या गुणें । खोळंबला राहिलों ॥1॥
माझें मज देई देवा । असे ठेविला तो ठेवा । नाहीं करीत हेवा । कांहीं अधीक आगळा ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं गळां पडलों झोंड । तुमचें तें चि माझें तोंड । चौघां चार खंड । लांबणी हे अनुचित ॥2॥
नाहीं येत बळा । आतां तुह्मासी द्मगोपाळा । तुका ह्मणे गळा । उगवा पायां लागतों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We are without strength. We do not know what You will do. Entangled in worldly bonds, I have remained stuck. O God, give me what is mine. Let the treasure You have kept remain. I do not covet anything extra or greater. I have not become a burden hanging at Your neck. What is Your mouth is my mouth, in all four directions. This long delay is improper. I have no more strength, O Gopala. Says Tuka, resolve this. I fall at Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We have no strength. We do not know what You will do. Tangled in worldly bonds, I have stayed stuck. Give me what is mine, O God. Keep the treasure You have stored away; I do not covet anything extra, anything greater. I have not hung from Your neck like a dead weight. Your mouth and mine are one, in all four directions. This long delay is not right. I have no strength left now, O Gopala. Tuka says: untangle this. I fall at Your feet.
What it means
Tukaram makes a careful, almost legal plea: he asks not for riches but only for what is rightfully his. He admits he is weak and snared in the world, unable to free himself. He insists he has not been a burden or a beggar at God's neck; his voice and God's are one, so the delay in answering shames them both. The closing surrender is plain: his strength is gone, and he drops at Gopala's feet asking only that the knot be loosed. It is the prayer of someone claiming a birthright, not a favor.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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