Prayer, trapped by lust and delusion
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बहु वाटे भये । माझे उडी घाला दये ॥1॥
फांसा गुंतलों लिगाडीं । न चले बळ चरफडी ॥ध्रु.॥
कुंटित चि युक्ति । माझ्या जाल्या सर्व शक्ति ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । काममोहें केला गोवा ॥3॥ ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Great fear grips me; O Compassionate One, take the leap for me. I am entangled in the snare of attachments; my strength fails and I thrash about helplessly. All my faculties and powers have been rendered useless. Says Tuka, O God, lust and delusion have trapped me utterly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Great fear grips me; Compassionate One, leap to me. I am caught in the snare of attachments; my strength fails and I thrash about. All my faculties and powers have gone useless. Tuka says: God, lust and delusion have trapped me.
What it means
Tukaram cries out in fear, like one caught in a snare whose struggling only tires him. He confesses that his own faculties and strength have stopped working; nothing in him can break the trap of attachment. Naming the cause plainly, he says lust and delusion have bound him, and only God's compassion, leaping to him, can free him. The honesty is the heart of it: he does not pretend to manage the fight himself but admits total helplessness and throws himself on grace. The prayer turns the failure of his own powers into the very reason to call on God.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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