Prayer, the mind kept at the feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आला भागासी तो करीं वेवसाव । परि राहो भाव तुझ्या पायीं ॥1॥
काय चाले तुह्मीं बांधलें दातारा । वाहिलिया भारा उसंतितों ॥ध्रु.॥
शरीर तें करी शरीराचे धर्म । नको देऊं वर्म चुकों मना ॥2॥
चळण फिरवी ठाव बहुवस । न घडो आळस चिंतनाचा ॥3॥
इंिद्रयें करोत आपुले व्यापार । आवडीसी थार देई पायीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे नको देऊं काळा हातीं । येतों काकुलती ह्मणऊनि ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Whatever work destiny has allotted, let it be carried out, but let my devotion remain fixed at Your feet. O generous Lord, what can I do but bear the burdens You have placed upon me? Let the body perform the body's duties, but do not let the mind stray from the love of contemplation. The restless senses may wander through many places; let there be no laziness in remembrance. Let the senses carry out their functions, but let my love find its home at Your feet. Says Tuka, do not hand me over to Time. That is why I come pleading to You.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whatever work has fallen to my lot, let it be done. But let my devotion rest at your feet. What can I do, Lord, with the load you have tied on me? I shoulder the weight you have laid down. Let the body do the body's duties. But do not let my mind miss the heart of it. The restless senses move through many places. Let no laziness come into my remembrance. Let the senses carry out their work. But let my love find its home at your feet. Tuka says: do not hand me over to Time. That is why I come pleading to you.
What it means
Tukaram accepts the work destiny has assigned without resisting it, asking only that the work not steal his inner attention. He draws a line between the body and the mind: let the body and the senses do their ordinary tasks, but let devotion and remembrance stay fixed at God's feet without slackening. The danger he names is being given over to Time, that is, to death and the wheel of mortality. So he comes not as a manager of his own fate but as one pleading, since the load was tied on him by the Lord and only the Lord can keep him from being handed over.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
More in this theme →