Prayer, fear-bound surrender examined
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माझी मज जाती आवरली देवा । नव्हतां या गोवा इंिद्रयांचा ॥1॥
कासया मी तुझा ह्मणवितों दास । असतों उदास सर्व भावें ॥ध्रु.॥
भयाचिया भेणें धरियेली कास । न पुरतां आस काय थोरी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आपआपुलीं जतन । कैचें थोरपण मग तुह्मां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My own nature has ensnared me, O God. Had there not been this entanglement of the senses, why would I call myself Your servant? I would have remained indifferent to all things. Out of fear I clutched Your hem; if my hope is not fulfilled, what is the use of Your greatness? Says Tuka, each must look after his own; without that, where is Your glory?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My own nature has trapped me, O God. If there were no tangle of the senses, why would I call myself Your servant? I would have stayed indifferent to everything. Out of fear I caught at the hem of Your robe; if my hope is not granted, what is Your greatness worth? Tuka says: each of us must be kept by You. Without that, where is Your glory?
What it means
Tukaram makes an unusually honest confession and then turns it into a plea. He admits his own nature snared him, and that he might never have called himself God's servant at all if the senses had not entangled him; left to himself he would have stayed cool and uninterested. He owns that it was fear that made him grab God's hem. Yet from that low place he still presses his claim: a greatness that does not rescue its frightened suppliant is no greatness, and a Lord whose own people are not kept has no glory. The honesty about his motive does not weaken the demand; it grounds it in God's reputation rather than his own worth.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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