Prayer, God already knows
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माझें परिसावें गाहाणें । चित्त द्यावें नारायणें ॥1॥
माझे हृदयींचें वर्म । देवा जाणशी तूं कर्म ॥ध्रु.॥
सबाहएअंतरसाक्ष। ऐसा वेदीं केला पक्ष ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नेणां । काय सांगों नारायणा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Hear my plea, O Narayana; give me Your attention. You know the secret of my chitta, O God; You know all my deeds. You are the witness both within and without; the Vedas affirm this truth. Says Tuka, I am at a loss for words. What more can I tell You, O Narayana?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Hear my complaint; give it Your attention, Narayana. You know the secret of my heart, O God; You know what I have done. You are the witness within and without; the Vedas have said so. Tuka says: You know it already. What is there for me to tell You, Narayana?
What it means
Tukaram comes to lay out his case before God and then stops short. The reason is that God already knows the inmost secret of his heart and every deed he has done; the Vedas call Him the witness inside and outside all things. So the prayer collapses into honesty: there is nothing to confess, nothing to explain, because the listener sees it all anyway. What is left is not a report but a surrender to being fully known.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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