Helpless prayer, entangled in karma
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सुटायाचा कांहीं पाहातों उपाय । तों हे देखें पाय गोवियेले ॥1॥
ऐसिया दुःखाचे सांपडलों संदी । हारपली बुिद्ध बळ माझें ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रारब्ध क्रियमाण संचिताचें । वोढत ठायींचे आलें साचें ॥2॥
विधिनिषेधाचे सांपडलों चपे । एकें एक लोपे निवडेना ॥3॥
सारावें तें वाढे त्याचिया चि अंगें । तृष्णेचिया संगें दुःखी जालों ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां करीं सोडवण । सर्वशक्तिहीन जालों देवा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I was looking for a way to escape, but then I found my feet entangled. Caught in this trap of sorrow, my buddhi and strength have both failed me. The pull of prarabdha, kriyamana, and sanchita karma has come bearing down upon me in truth. I am caught between injunction and prohibition; one suppresses the other, and nothing can be discerned. The more I try to end it, the more it grows by its own force. Craving has made me miserable. Says Tuka, now rescue me, O God. I have become utterly without strength.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I look for some way to escape. Then I see that my feet are already tied. I am caught in this trap of sorrow. My buddhi is gone; my strength is gone. The pull of prarabdha, of kriyamana, of sanchita karma has come bearing down on me, and it is real. I am pinned between what I must do and what I must not do; one cancels the other, and I cannot tell them apart. Whatever I try to clear away grows larger from its own root. Craving keeps company with me, and I am wretched. Tuka says: now set me free, O God. I have become utterly without strength.
What it means
Tukaram describes the moment when self-effort runs out and only grace is left. He wanted to escape worldly bondage, but every attempt only showed him how tied he already was: his reason and willpower failed, and the three kinds of karma pressed down on him as solid fact. He is caught between rule and prohibition, unable to discern the right move, and discovers that the more he tries to end his trouble the more it grows from craving itself. So he stops struggling and simply hands the rescue over to God, admitting he has no strength of his own. The point is the limit of striving: when the knot tightens under your own hands, surrender is the only door.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
More in this theme →