Prayer, the helpless refugee
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हें मी स्वतंत्र अंगाचा पाईक । जे हे सकिळक सत्ता वारूं ॥1॥
तुह्मां आळवावें पाउला पाउलीं । कृपेची साउली करीं मज ॥ध्रु.॥
शक्तिहीन तरी जालों शरणागत । आपुला वृत्तांत जाणोनियां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भवाभेणें धरिलें पाय । आणीक उपाय नेणें कांहीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am not independent, not master of my own limbs, nor can I ward off the forces that assail me from all sides. I must call upon You at every step; spread the shade of Your mercy over me. Though I am without strength, I have become Your refugee, knowing well my own condition. Says Tuka, out of fear of worldly existence I have grasped Your feet; I know no other remedy.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am not free, not even the master of my own body. I cannot ward off the forces that come at me from every side. I must call on You at every step. Spread the shade of Your mercy over me. I have no strength, yet I have become Your refugee, for I know my own state well. Tuka says: out of fear of this worldly life I have grasped Your feet. I know no other remedy.
What it means
Tukaram strips away every claim to self-sufficiency. He says he does not even command his own body, and cannot fend off the assaults of existence, so he must lean on God at every single step. His surrender is clear-eyed: he takes refuge precisely because he has measured his own weakness and faces it honestly. The fear of samsara, the endless round of worldly life, is what drives him to clasp God's feet. He ends by closing every other door: there is no other remedy he knows.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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