Prayer, the mind at His feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां केशीराजा हे चि विनवणी । मस्तक चरणीं ठेवीतसें ॥1॥
देह असो माझा भलतिये ठायीं । चित्त तुझ्या पायीं असों द्यावें ॥ध्रु.॥
काळाचें खंडण घडावें चिंतन । धनमानजनविन्मुख तो ॥2॥
कफवातपित्त देहअवसानीं । ठेवावीं वारूनि दुरितें हीं॥3॥
सावध तों माझीं इंिद्रयें सकळें । दिलीं एका वेळे हाक आधीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे तूं या सकळांचा जनिता । येथें ऐकता सकळांसी ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now, O Lord Keshi, this is my prayer. I place my head at Your feet. Let this body go wherever it will, but let my mind remain at Your feet. May remembrance of You defeat the power of death. Let me be free of attachment to wealth, honor, and worldly ties. When the bodily constitution fails at last, keep away the sins that would assail me then. While my senses are still alert, let me call out to You with all of them at once. Says Tuka, You are the father of all beings; You hear everyone here.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now, O Keshiraja, this alone is my plea; I lay my head at your feet. Let my body be wherever it must be, but let my mind stay at your feet. Let remembrance of you break the power of death; turn me away from wealth, honor, and people. When phlegm, wind, and bile rise as the body ends, drive these evils away. While all my senses are still alert, I have called out to you with them at once, all together first. Tuka says: you are the father of all these; here you hear everyone.
What it means
Tukaram prays for the one thing he most fears losing: a mind fixed on God at the end. He lets the body go wherever it must, asking only that his attention stay at the Lord's feet, so that remembrance can break the grip of death. Knowing how the dying body is seized by its failing humors, he asks that the assault of those last evils be kept off, and that craving for wealth, honor, and human approval be turned away in the meantime. The urgency is that he wants to call out now, while his senses are still alert, to the Lord who is father of all and hears everyone present.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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