Prayer, head at the feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐका जी देवा माझी विनवणी । मस्तक चरणीं ठेवीतसें ॥1॥
सन्निध पातलों सांडूनियां शंका । सन्मुख चि एकाएकीं पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
जाणविलें कोठें पावे पायांपाशीं । केली या जिवासी साटी ह्मुण ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझे हातीं द्या उद्धार । करीं करकर ह्मणवूनि ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Hear me, O God, this is my humble prayer. I place my head at Your feet. I have come near, casting aside all hesitation, standing squarely before You. Wherever I reach, let it be at Your feet, for I have staked my very life. Says Tuka, grant me salvation with Your own hands; I say this because I feel my own helplessness.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Hear me, O God. This is my plea. I lay my head at your feet. I have dropped all hesitation and come close. I stand straight before you, face to face, all at once. Wherever I reach, let it be at your feet. I have staked my life on it. Tuka says: put my rescue in your own hands. I keep asking, because I am helpless.
What it means
Tukaram comes to God not with an argument but with his head on the ground, and he names exactly what he wants. He says he has thrown off every hesitation and walked right up, standing face to face, because half-measures will not do. He stakes his whole life on one thing: that wherever he ends up, it will be at God's feet. The closing turn is the sharp one. He will not save himself; he hands the work of his rescue into God's own hands and admits, without shame, that the reason he keeps pestering is that he cannot do it alone.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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