Prayer, asking for true understanding
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अहो कृपावंता । हाई बुद्धीचा ये दाता ॥1॥
जेणें पाविजे उद्धार । होय तुझे पायीं थार ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । माझें अंतर वसवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O Compassionate One, grant me the gift of true understanding, by which I may attain liberation and find a firm place at Your feet. Says Tuka, O God, come and dwell within my chitta.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O Compassionate One, give me the gift of true understanding. By it I may reach liberation and find a firm place at your feet. Tuka says: O God, come and dwell within me.
What it means
This is a short, direct prayer for one thing: right understanding. Tukaram does not ask for comfort or fortune but for the discernment by which a soul is set free and finds steady footing at God's feet. He calls God compassionate because he is leaning entirely on that mercy to give what he cannot earn on his own. The last line turns the request inward: it is not enough to be granted the gift from outside; he asks God to come and live within him, so the understanding has its source there.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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