Prayer, only mercy ends the cycle
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
येणें जाणें तरी । राहे देव कृपा करी ॥1॥
ऐसें तंव पुण्य नाहीं । पाहातां माझे गांठी कांहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
भय निवारिता कोण वेगळा अनंता ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वारे भोग । वारी तरी पांडुरंग ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If God shows mercy, the cycle of coming and going can cease. But I have no such merit when I search my own store. Who else but You, O Ananta, can remove this fear? Says Tuka, if these karmic consequences are to end, only Panduranga can bring that about.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If God shows mercy, the coming and going can stop. But I have no such merit; when I look in my own purse there is nothing. Who but You, O Ananta, can take away this fear? Tuka says: if these consequences are to end, only Panduranga can end them.
What it means
Tukaram confronts the cycle of birth and death and admits he has nothing in his own account that could earn release. The only thing that can halt the coming and going is God's grace, not his own merit, which he finds empty when he searches it. He asks who besides the Infinite, Ananta, could possibly remove his fear, and the question answers itself. The whole burden of fruits and consequences, he concludes, can be lifted by Panduranga alone; his rescue rests entirely on God, not on himself.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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