Prayer, the drowning man's cry
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नेणे करूं सेवा । पांडुरंगा कृपाळुवा ॥1॥
धांवें बुडतों मी काढीं । सत्ता आपुलिया ओढीं ॥ध्रु.॥
क्रियाकर्महीन । जालों इंिद्रयां अधीन ॥2॥
तुका विनंती करी । वेळोवेळां पाय धरी॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not know how to serve You, O compassionate Panduranga. Come running; I am drowning. Pull me out by the strength of Your own will. I have become helpless, a slave to the senses, devoid of right action. Says Tuka, making his plea again and again, clinging to Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not know how to serve you, merciful Panduranga. Come running and pull me out; I am drowning. Drag me up by your own power. I have no good deeds; I have become a slave to the senses. Tuka says, pleading again and again, holding your feet over and over.
What it means
Tukaram prays from the bottom, admitting he cannot even do the one thing a devotee is supposed to do, namely serve. He casts himself as a man going under and asks God to come at a run. The rescue, he says plainly, must be God's doing and not his own merit, because he has none and has fallen under the rule of his senses. There is no bargaining here, only the bare cry of helplessness thrown on God's mercy. He clings to the feet again and again, which is the only act left to a man who cannot save himself.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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