Prayer, do not cut me off midway
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मी सर्वकाळ कैंचीं सावधानें । वेवसायें मन अभ्यासलें ॥1॥
तरी ह्मणा मोट ठेविली चरणीं । केलों गुणागुणीं कासावीस ॥ध्रु.॥
याचे कानसुळीं मारीतसे हाका । मज घाटूं नका मधीं आतां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे निद्रा जागृति सुषुिप्त । तुह्मी हो श्रीपती साक्षी येथें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We were never vigilant at all times; the mind was trained only through worldly effort. Having said that much, I have placed my bundle at Your feet; virtues and faults alike have left me distressed. I call out at the top of my voice into Your ears: do not cut me off now in the middle. Says Tuka, in waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, You, O Lord, are the witness of it all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We were never watchful all the time; our minds were trained only by worldly effort. Even so, I have laid my bundle at Your feet; my virtues and faults alike have left me distressed. I am shouting straight into Your ears: do not cut me off now in the middle. Tuka says: in waking, in dreaming, in deep sleep, You, O Lord, are the witness of it all.
What it means
Tukaram admits the honest truth that he was never constantly vigilant; his mind was schooled by worldly business, not by steady watchfulness. Yet he has still set his whole load, his good and his bad, at God's feet, worn out by carrying it. The urgent plea is that, having come this far, he not be abandoned partway through. He grounds the appeal in God's total knowledge: through waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, the Lord has been the one unbroken witness, so there is no part of him God has not already seen.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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