Prayer, let no time be wasted
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न वजावा तो काळ वांयां । मुख्य दया हे देवा ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि जैसें तैसें । रहणी असें पायांचे ॥ध्रु.॥
मोकळें हे मन कष्ट। करी नष्ट दुर्जन ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कांहीं नेणें । न वजें येणेंपरी वांयां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Time should not be allowed to pass in vain; God's chief quality is mercy. Therefore, however it may be, let me remain at His feet. An unfettered mind causes damage; the wicked corrupt it. Says Tuka, I know nothing else; let me not go to waste in this manner.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do not let this time slip away in vain; mercy is Your chief quality, God. So, however it must be, let me stay at Your feet. A mind left loose runs to harm; the wicked corrupt it. Tuka says: I know nothing else. Do not let me go to waste like this.
What it means
Tukaram prays for the most basic protection: that his short span of time not be squandered, and he grounds the appeal in what he calls God's defining trait, mercy. Whatever else happens, he asks only to be kept at God's feet, because he knows what an unguarded mind does when left to itself. Left loose, it drifts into harm, and bad company finishes the corruption. He confesses he has no other resource and no other skill, so the prayer is plain to the point of bareness: keep me, or I am wasted. The strength of it is the admission of total dependence.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
More in this theme →