Prayer, spare me bad company
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मागेन तें एक तुज । देई विचारोनि मज ॥1॥
नको दुर्जनांचा संग । क्षणक्षणा चित्तभंग ॥ध्रु.॥
जन्म घेईन मी नाना । बहु सोसीन यातना ॥2॥
रंक होईन दीनांचा । घायें देहपात साचा॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे हें चि आतां । देई देई तूं सर्वथा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I ask You for only one thing; consider it and grant it to me. Never give me the company of the wicked, which shatters the mind moment by moment. I will take any number of births and endure great suffering. I will become the poorest of the poor, and bear wounds upon this body. Says Tuka, this one boon, give it to me now, give it without fail.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I ask You for one thing only; weigh it, and grant it to me. Do not give me the company of the wicked, which shatters the mind moment by moment. I will take any number of births. I will endure great suffering. I will become the poorest of the poor. I will bear wounds upon this body. Tuka says: this one boon, give it to me now, give it without fail.
What it means
Tukaram makes a single request and stakes everything on it: keep him out of bad company. He is not asking to be spared pain; he volunteers for the opposite. He will accept endless rebirths, deep suffering, poverty, even a body broken by blows. What he will not accept is the constant company of the wicked, because it breaks the mind again and again and pulls it from God. The prayer measures the danger by what he is willing to trade for safety from it.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
More in this theme →