Prayer, no kinsman but God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझा विसर नको माझिया जीवा । क्षण एक केशवा मायबापा ॥1॥
जाओ राहो देह आतां ये चि घडी । कायसी आवडी याची मज ॥ध्रु.॥
कुश्चीळ इंिद्रयें आपुलिया गुणें । यांचिया पाळणें कोण हित ॥2॥
पुत्र पत्नी बंधु सोयरीं खाणोरीं । यांचा कोण धरी संग आतां ॥3॥
पिंड हा उसना आणिला पांचांचा । सेकीं लागे ज्याचा त्यासी देणें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे नाहीं आणिक सोइरें । तुजविण दुसरें पांडुरंगा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Keshava, my father and mother, do not let me forget you for even a single moment. Let this body live or perish this very instant; I have no attachment to it whatsoever. The senses are filthy by their very nature; what good comes from indulging them? Sons, wife, brothers, relatives and kin, whose company shall I keep now? This body is borrowed from the five elements, and in the end each portion must be returned to its owner. Says Tuka, O Panduranga, there is no kinsman other than you.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do not let my soul forget you, O Keshava, my mother and father, not for a single moment. Let this body live or die this very instant. What love do I have for it? The senses are filthy by their own nature. What good comes of feeding them? Sons, wife, brothers, relatives, kin: whose company shall I keep now? This body is borrowed from the five elements. In the end each part must be given back to its owner. Tuka says: there is no other kinsman, O Panduranga, none but you.
What it means
Tukaram prays for one thing, an unbroken memory of God, and lets go of everything that competes with it. He calls Keshava both mother and father, the only true kin, and grows indifferent to whether his body lives or dies, since he feels no real attachment to it. He looks at the senses, the family, the very flesh, and sees each as something that cannot finally hold him: the senses are impure, the relatives temporary company, and the body itself only on loan from the five elements, to be returned piece by piece at death. Against all this borrowed and perishing belonging he sets the one permanent relation, Panduranga, who alone is truly his.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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