Prayer, caught in the noose of desire
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न पडो आतां हाडीं घाव । मध्यें कींव नासक ॥1॥
करविली आत्महत्या । जीवा कां द्वंदाचा ॥ध्रु.॥
आशापाशीं गुंतला गळा । तेणें कळाहीन जालों ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे लावूं मुळी । जीवकुळी थोरेसी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let no more blows fall upon these bones. The mercy shown in between only hastens the destruction. Self-destruction has been brought about. Why impose the torment of duality upon the jiva? The noose of desire has caught the throat, and I have become senseless. Says Tuka, let me trace this back to its root, to the very origin of the life-force.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let no more blows fall on these bones. The mercy shown in between only hastens my ruin. Self-destruction has been brought about. Why lay the torment of duality on the jiva? The noose of desire has caught my throat, and I have lost all my power. Tuka says: let me trace this back to its root, to the very source of the life-force.
What it means
Tukaram cries out from exhaustion and asks God to stop the blows, saying that even the mercy granted now and then only drags out his destruction. He sees that his ruin is self-made, and pleads against the torment of duality, the split that keeps the jiva suffering. He names the cause plainly: the noose of desire has tightened on his throat until he is left powerless. His resolve is to go to the root, to trace this bondage back to the very origin of the life-force, so that the cure reaches deeper than the symptom.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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