Plea for release from rebirth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बहु जन्मांतरें फेरे । केले येरे सोडवीं ॥1॥
आळवितों करुणाकरे । विश्वंभरे दयाळे ॥ध्रु.॥
वाहवतों मायापुरीं । येथें करीं कुढावा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दुजा कोण । ऐसा सीण निवारी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Through many births I have taken so many rounds of existence; deliver me from all this. I call out to You, O merciful one, O Lord of the universe, O compassionate Lord. I am being tossed about in the city of illusion; take pity on me here. Says Tuka, who else but You can put an end to this suffering?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Through many births I have gone round and round. Set me free from it. I call out to You, O merciful one, O sustainer of the world, O compassionate Lord. I am being swept along in the city of illusion. Take pity on me here. Tuka says: who else but You can end this exhaustion?
What it means
Tukaram is asking to be released from the endless wheel of birth after birth, a circling he is worn out by. He calls on God by the names that name God's nature: merciful, the one who holds up the world, compassionate. He names his condition as being carried helplessly along in the city of illusion, unable to get free by himself. The closing question is also his argument: no one else has the power to end this weariness, so to God alone he turns.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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