The rare human birth, gripping God's waist
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पावलों हा देह कागतालिन्यायें । न घडे उपायें घडों आलें ॥1॥
आतां माझीं खंडीं देह देहांतरें । अभय दातारें देऊनियां॥ध्रु.॥
अंधळ्याचे पाठीं धनाची चरवी । अघटित तेंवि घडों आलें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे योग घडला बरवा । आतां कास देवा न सोडीं मी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I obtained this human body as if by a stroke of luck; what could not happen by design has come to pass. Now, O generous Lord, end my cycle of body after body by granting me fearlessness. Like a blind man finding a purse of gold, this impossible thing has happened. Says Tuka, this fortunate union has occurred. Now I will not let go of Your waist, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I came into this human body as if by sheer chance, the way a crow lands just as a fruit falls. What could not happen by any plan has happened. Now, generous Lord, end my round of body after body by granting me fearlessness. Like a blind man stumbling onto a pot of gold, this impossible thing has come to pass. Tuka says: a good joining has happened. Now I will not let go of Your waist, O God.
What it means
Tukaram marvels that this human birth, and the meeting with God it allows, came almost by accident, not by his own design. He uses two images of unearned luck: the crow at the falling fruit, and the blind man stumbling on buried gold. Because the chance is so rare and undeserved, he will not waste it. He asks the Lord to break the cycle of repeated bodies by giving him fearlessness, the freedom that ends rebirth. Having found God by luck, he resolves to grip him tight and never let go.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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