Prayer for inward gifts
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हें चि मागणें विठाबाई । पायीं ठेवूनियां डोई ॥1॥
शांति दया अंतःकरणीं । रंगो रामनामीं वाणी ॥ध्रु.॥
मूळ द्वंद्वाचें विघडो । निजानंदीं वृित्त जडो ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हरी । आतां आपुलेंसें करीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
This alone is my prayer, O Vitthabai, placing my head at Your feet. May peace and compassion fill my chitta. May my speech be dyed in Rama's Name. May the root of duality be severed. May my attention be firmly fixed in the bliss of the Self. Says Tuka, O Hari, now make me Your own.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This alone is my asking, Vithabai, as I lay my head at your feet. Let peace and compassion be in my heart. Let my speech be steeped in Rama's Name. Let the root of duality break apart. Let my attention settle in the bliss of the Self. Tuka says: Hari, now make me your own.
What it means
Tukaram asks for nothing outward, no relief, no fortune, only a changed inner state. The gifts he names build on one another: peace and compassion in the heart, the tongue dyed through with Rama's Name, the very root of dividedness cut, and the mind coming to rest in the bliss of the Self. The closing line gathers all of it into a single surrender, asking Hari to take possession of him. The whole prayer treats union, not benefit, as the only thing worth begging for.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
More in this theme →