Prayer, peace that cannot be undone
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अनंतां जीवांचीं तोडिलीं बंधनें । मज हि येणें काळें कृपा कीजे ॥1॥
अनंत पवाडे तुझे विश्वंभरा । भक्तकरुणाकरा नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥
अंतरींचें कळों देई गुहए गुज । अंतरीं तें बीज राखईन ॥2॥
समदृष्टी तुझे पाहेन पाउलें । धरीन संचले हृदयांत॥3॥
तेणें या चित्ताची राहेल तळमळ । होतील शीतळ सकळ गात्रें ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे शांति करील प्रवेश । मग नव्हे नाश अखंड तो ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You have broken the bonds of countless jivas; in this same age, show mercy to me as well. Endless are Your glorious deeds, O Sustainer of the world, O compassionate Narayana. Reveal the secret that lies within; I will guard that seed in my chitta. With equal vision I shall behold Your footprints and hold them firmly in my breast. Then this restless chitta shall grow calm, and every limb shall be cooled. Says Tuka, peace shall enter in, and that peace, once come, shall never be destroyed.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have cut the bonds of countless living souls. In this same age, show your mercy to me too. Your glorious deeds are endless, Vishvambhara, holder of the world. Compassionate one, Narayana. Reveal to me the secret hidden within; I will guard that seed in my heart. With equal vision I will gaze at your footprints, and hold them, gathered, in my breast. Then this mind will stop its trembling, and every limb will grow cool. Tuka says: peace will enter in. And once it comes, it will never be destroyed.
What it means
Tukaram asks Narayana to do for him what he has already done for endless others: break the bonds. He is not asking for a private favor but for a turn at the same mercy that has freed countless souls. The middle of the poem names what he wants kept inside him, a hidden seed of the secret, and what he will keep his gaze fixed on, the footprints held in the breast. The promised result is bodily as well as inward: the trembling mind quiets and every limb cools. The last line raises the stake to permanence; this is not a passing calm but a peace that, once it arrives, cannot be lost.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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