Prayer, the freedom of the fakir
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नको देऊं देवा पोटीं हें संतान । मायाजाळें जाण नाठवसी ॥1॥
नको देऊं देवा द्रव्य आणि भाग्य । तो एक उद्वेग होय जीवा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे करीं फकिराचे परी । रात्रदिवस हरि येइल घरा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Do not give me children, O God, for in the web of family attachment I will forget You. Do not give me wealth and fortune, for that only brings torment to the soul. Says Tuka, make me live like a fakir; then Hari will come to my door day and night.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do not give me children, O God, for in the web of family love I will forget you. Do not give me wealth and fortune, for that brings only torment to the soul. Tuka says: make me live like a fakir; then Hari will come to my house day and night.
What it means
Tukaram prays against the very things most people beg God for. He asks not to be given children, because the bonds of family will tangle his attention and crowd God out of his memory. He asks not to be given riches, because possessions bring not peace but unrest. What he wants instead is the bare life of a fakir, owning nothing, attached to nothing. The reasoning is plain: with the hands and heart empty of the world, there is room for Hari to come and stay, day and night. The poem names the cost of remembering God: letting go of what we are taught to want.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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