Prayer, frailty before anxiety
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
2689. उद्वेगासी बहु फाकती मारग । नव्हे ऐसें अंग माझें होतें ॥1॥
आतां कोण यासी करणें विचार । तो देखा साचार पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु
तुका ह्मणे आहे वचनाची उरी । करितों तोंवरि विज्ञापना ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Many paths open up to anxiety, and my being was not made to withstand them. Now, who will deliberate upon this? Behold the truth of it, O Panduranga. Says Tuka, so long as words remain, I shall continue to make my supplication.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Many roads open up that lead to dread, and I was not built to stand against them. Now who is to think this through? See the truth of it, Panduranga. Tuka says: as long as words are left in me, I will keep making my plea.
What it means
Tukaram admits he is not strong enough to face the many ways anxiety crowds in on him. He hands the whole problem over, asking who but God can work it out, and calls on Panduranga to see his condition as it truly is. The poem is a plain surrender of his own competence. Its closing vow is the heart of it: while a single word is still left in him, he will not stop pleading, making persistence itself his only strength.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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