Prayer, the Name above every gift
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हे चि माझे चित्तीं । राहो भावप्रीति । विठ्ठल सुषुप्ती। जागृति स्वप्नासी ॥1॥
आणिक नाहीं तुज मागणें । राज्यचाड संपित्त धन । जिव्हे सुख तेणें । घेतां देहीं नाम तुझें॥ध्रु॥
तुझें रूप सर्वाठायीं । देखें ऐसें प्रेम देई । न ठेवावा ठायीं । अनुभव चित्ताचा ॥2॥
जन्ममरणाचा बाध । समुळूनि तुटे कंद । लागो हा चि छंद। हरि गोविंद वाचेसी ॥3॥
काय पालटे दरुषणें । अवघें कोंदाटे चैतन्य । जीवशिवा खंडण । होय ते रे चिंतितां ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे या चि भावें । आह्मीं धालों तुझ्या नामें । सुखें होत जन्म । भलते याती भलतैसीं ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
May this love and devotion for Vitthal remain in my chitta in waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. I ask You for nothing else: no kingdom, no wealth, no possessions. The tongue finds its joy in taking Your name while in this body. Let me see Your form everywhere; grant me such love. Let the mind's experience not be kept in one place but pervade all. May the root of birth and death be completely severed. May this one passion cling to the tongue: Hari, Govinda. What is transformed by Your sight? All is flooded with pure consciousness. The boundary between jiva and God is shattered in that contemplation. Says Tuka, with this very devotion we are sated by Your name. Let births come happily, in any caste, in any form.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let only this stay in my heart: love and devotion. Vitthal in deep sleep, in waking, in dream. I ask You for nothing else: no craving for kingdom, no wealth, no possessions. The tongue's whole joy is taking Your name while I live in this body. Let me see Your form everywhere; grant me such love. Do not keep the mind's experience fixed in one place; let it spread through all. Let the root of birth and death be cut clean away. Let this one passion cling to my tongue: Hari, Govinda. What changes at Your sight? Everything is flooded with pure consciousness. The wall between jiva and God is shattered in that contemplation. Tuka says: with this very devotion we are filled full by Your name. Let births come gladly, in any caste, in any form.
What it means
This is a prayer that refuses every prize except love of God. Tuka asks that devotion to Vitthal hold his heart through all three states, waking, dream, and deep sleep, and explicitly waves away kingdom, wealth, and possessions. What he wants instead is the Name on his tongue while he lives, the sight of God's form everywhere, and a realization that does not stay penned in one place but pervades everything. The stakes he names are the deepest ones: the very root of birth and death cut away, and the boundary between the individual soul and God shattered in contemplation, so that all is seen as one pure consciousness. So complete is this that he no longer fears rebirth; if births must come, let them come gladly, in any caste or form, because the Name has already made him full.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
More in this theme →