Prayer, forget the body
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवा आतां ऐसा करीं उपकार । देहेचा विसर पाडीं मज ॥1॥
तरीं च हा जीव सुख पावे माझा । बरें केशीराजा कळों आलें ॥ध्रु.॥
ठाव देई चित्ता राख पायांपाशीं । सकळ वृत्तींसी अखंडित ॥2॥
असे भय आतां लाज काम क्रोध । तोडावा संबंध यांचा माझा ॥3॥
मागणें तें एक हें चि आहे आतां । नाम मुखीं संतसंग देई ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे नको वरपंग देवा । घेई माझी सेवा भावशुद्ध ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O God, do me this kindness now: make me forget this body. Only then will my jiva find true happiness; this much has become clear, O Lord Keshi. Give my mind a place at Your feet; keep all my faculties unbroken in Your presence. Fear, shame, desire, anger: sever my connection with them all. My only prayer now is this: keep Your name on my lips and grant me the company of the saints. Says Tuka, O God, do not accept superficial worship; receive my service in pure devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
God, do me this kindness now: make me forget this body. Only then will my jiva find happiness. This much has become clear to me, O Lord Keshi. Give my mind a place at your feet. Keep all my faculties unbroken there. Fear, shame, desire, anger: cut my bond with them all. My only prayer now is this: keep your name on my lips, and grant me the company of the saints. Tuka says: God, do not take my outward show; receive my service in pure devotion.
What it means
Tukaram asks for one strange gift and names what it frees him from. He begs God to make him forget the body, because only when the body-sense loosens can the jiva rest in real happiness rather than in its appetites. He wants his whole attention parked at Vitthal's feet, every faculty held there unbroken, and the inner enemies of fear, shame, desire, and anger severed from him. His one petition is the Name on his lips and the saints around him. The closing line guards against the danger he knows in himself: outward, performed worship that God should refuse in favor of devotion that is actually pure.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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