Prayer, come dwell in my heart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मी अवगुणी अन्यायी किती ह्मणोन सांगों काई । आतां मज पायीं ठाव देई विठ्ठले ॥1॥
पुरे पुरे हा संसार कर्म बिळवंत दुस्तर । राहों नेदी िस्थर एके ठायीं निश्चळ ॥ध्रु.॥
अनेक बुिद्धचे तरंग क्षणक्षणां पालटती रंग । धरूं जातां संग तंव तो होतो बाधक ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां अवघी तोडीं माझी चिंता । येऊनि पंढरिनाथा वास करीं हृदयीं ॥3॥ ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am full of faults and offenses; how much can I recount? Now grant me a place at Your feet, O Vitthal. Enough of this worldly life; karma is powerful and its ocean hard to cross. It will not let the mind stay still and steady in one place. The waves of restless intellect change color every moment; when I try to hold on to any, it becomes an obstacle. Says Tuka, now sever all my anxieties, O Lord of Pandhari. Come and dwell in my heart.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How long can I list how full of faults and wrongs I am? Now give me a place at Your feet, O Vitthal. Enough, enough of this worldly life. Karma is strong, and its ocean is hard to cross. It will not let the mind stay still and steady in one place. The waves of the restless mind change color every moment. When I try to hold one, that very holding becomes a snare. Tuka says: now cut away all my anxieties. Come, Lord of Pandhari, and live in my heart.
What it means
Tukaram stops cataloguing his faults because the list is endless and asks instead for refuge at Vitthal's feet. He names the trap plainly: karma is too strong to defeat by effort, and the mind itself will not hold still long enough to be mastered. Every passing thought looks like something to grasp, but grasping only entangles him further. So he asks God to do what he cannot: sever the anxieties at the root and take up residence in his heart, making the restless mind God's own dwelling rather than the seeker's battlefield.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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