Prayer, why is everything reversed?
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कोण्या काळें येईल मना । नारायणा तुमचिया॥1॥
माझा करणें अंगीकार । सर्व भार फेडूनि ॥ध्रु.॥
लागली हे तळमळ चित्ता । तरी दुिश्चता संसारी ॥2॥
सुखाची च पाहें वास । मागें दोष सांभाळीं ॥3॥
इच्छा पूर्ण जाल्याविण । कैसा सीण वारेल ॥4॥
कांटाळा तो न धरावा । तुह्मी देवा दासांचा ॥6॥
तुका ह्मणे माझे वेळे । न कळे कां हें उफराटें ॥7॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When will the thought of You enter my mind, O Narayana? Accept me and lift every burden from me. This restlessness has seized my chitta, yet I remain uncertain in worldly life. I look only for comfort, while sins pile up behind me. Until my desire is wholly fulfilled, how shall this pain be eased? Do not grow weary of Your servants, O God. Says Tuka, at my appointed hour, why does everything seem to go awry?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When will the thought of you enter my mind, O Narayana? Take me up as yours, and lift every burden from me. This restlessness has gripped my heart, yet I stay unsettled in worldly life. I keep looking only for comfort, while my sins pile up behind me. Until my longing is wholly filled, how will this pain be eased? Do not grow tired of us, O God. We are your servants. Tuka says: at my hour, why does everything turn out backward?
What it means
Tukaram prays out of a divided, honest heart. He asks when his mind will finally fill with God, and begs the Lord to claim him and take his whole load. He sees his own contradiction: restless for God, yet still tangled in the world, still chasing comfort while his faults accumulate. He reasons that the ache cannot stop until the longing is satisfied, and so he pleads with God not to tire of his servants. The closing cry is the prayer's sharpest point: at his own crucial hour, everything seems to come out the wrong way round, and he lays even that bewilderment before God.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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