Prayer, the heap of sins asks a place
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जालों आतां दास । माझे तोडोनियां पाश ॥1॥
ठाव द्यावा पायांपाशीं । मी तो पातकांची राशी ॥ध्रु.॥
सकळ ही गोवा । माझा उगवूनि देवा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भय । करा जवळी तें नये ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now that my bonds are cut, I have become a true servant. Grant me a place at your feet, though I am a heap of sins. Untangle all my confusions, O God. Says Tuka, let nothing fearful come near.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now my bonds are cut; I have become your servant. Give me a place at your feet, though I am a heap of sins. Untangle all my confusions, O God. Tuka says: let nothing fearful come near.
What it means
This is a short prayer from one who claims nothing but his own neediness. Tukaram says his bonds are already cut, so he comes asking only for a place at the feet, and in the same breath admits he is a mound of accumulated sins. He does not minimize that; he sets it beside his request so the grace asked for is plainly undeserved. He wants his tangles undone by God's hand, not his own. The last line is the prayer of someone who knows he cannot protect himself: keep all that is fearful away from me.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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