Prayer, you already know my heart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय धर्म नीत । तुह्मां शिकवावें हित ॥1॥
अवघें रचियेलें हेळा । लीळा ब्रह्मांड सकळा ॥ध्रु.॥
नाम महादेव । येथें निवडला भाव ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वेळे । माझें तुह्मां कां न कळे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What dharma and right conduct should I teach you? You have created the entire universe as effortless play. O Mahadeva, your name is spoken here; by it the devotion within is recognized. Says Tuka, why does my intent at this moment not become clear to you?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What dharma, what right conduct should I teach you? You have made the whole universe in effortless play. O Mahadeva, your name is spoken here; by it the devotion within is recognized. Tuka says: why does my intent at this moment not become clear to you?
What it means
Tukaram catches himself: who is he to instruct God in dharma or right conduct, when the one he addresses fashioned the entire universe as effortless play? Set against that, his own asking sounds small, so he leans instead on the Name, Mahadeva, by which the true devotion hidden inside a person is brought to light. The poem then becomes one plain question, half complaint and half trust: if you see everything, why does my own intent right now not stand clear to you? It is the prayer of someone who would rather be known than have to explain himself, sure that God already reads the heart.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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