Prayer, take the senses if they turn from you
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां मागतों तें ऐक नारायणा । भावपूर्वक मनापासूनियां॥1॥
असों दे मोकळी जिव्हा जरि गाइल गुण । नाहीं तरी खिळुन टाकीं परती ॥ध्रु.॥
मातेचिया परी देखती परनारी। ठेवीं नेत्र तरी नाहीं तरि नको ॥2॥
तरी बरें कांटाळा करिती निंदास्तुतीचा । नाहीं तरि कानांचा ही देख प्रेत्न ॥3॥
सकळ इंिद्रयांचा निग्रह करूनि एक । राखवीं पृथक तोडोनि भ्रम ॥4॥
तुकयाबंधु ह्मणे ते चि वाट प्राणां । पडता नारायणा विसर तुझा॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now hear what I ask of You, O Narayana, from the depths of a sincere chitta. Let my tongue remain free if it will sing Your praise; if not, then nail it shut. Let my eyes see all women other than my wife as mothers; if they cannot, then I do not need those eyes. Let my ears feel repelled by both blame and praise; if they cannot, then take the ears as well. Bring all the senses under control and keep them separate; break the delusion that binds them. Says Tukya-bandhu, the moment I forget You, O Narayana, let that be the death of my breath.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now hear what I ask of you, Narayana, in earnest, from the heart. Let my tongue stay free if it will sing your praise; if it will not, then nail it shut and cast it away. Let my eyes see every other woman as a mother; if they cannot, then I do not want eyes. Better that my ears recoil from both blame and praise; if they will not, then deal with the ears as well. Take all the senses, master them, hold them apart; break the delusion that binds them. Tukya-bandhu says: the moment I forget you, Narayana, let that be the death of my breath.
What it means
This is a fierce, conditional prayer about the senses. The poet does not ask to enjoy his faculties; he asks God to keep each one only insofar as it serves devotion and to destroy it otherwise. A tongue that will not sing should be silenced, eyes that will not see other women as mothers are not worth keeping, ears that crave praise or blame should be taken away. He wants every sense mastered and held apart from its delusion. The closing line names the real stake: forgetting God even for a moment is the one death he fears, worse than the loss of any sense.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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