Helplessness, surrender at the feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मिथ्या आहे सर्व अवघें हें मायिक । न कळे विवेक मज कांहीं ॥1॥
सर्व बाजागिरी वाटती ही खरी । पहातां येथें उरी कांहीं नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
आतां मज दुःख वाटतें अंतरीं । उपाय झडकरी सांग कांहीं ॥2॥
पुढें कोण गति न कळे सर्वथा । तुझे पायीं माथा ठेवियेला ॥3॥
करणें तें करीं सुखें आतां हरी । तुज म्यां निर्धारीं धरियेलें ॥4॥
स्वहित तें काय न कळे सर्वथा । तारीं तूं अनंता तुका ह्मणे ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All of this is false, all of it illusory. I do not understand any discrimination. All the tricks of the world seem real, yet upon examination, nothing remains. Now my chitta is heavy with sorrow. Tell me some swift remedy. I cannot foresee what lies ahead. I have placed my head at Your feet. Do with me as You will, O Hari. I have firmly chosen You. Says Tuka, I do not know what is truly good for me. Save me, O Ananta.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
All of this is false. All of it is illusion. I do not understand any discernment. The tricks of the world all seem real to me, yet when I look closely, nothing remains here. Now sorrow weighs in my heart. Tell me some swift remedy. I cannot see at all what lies ahead. I have laid my head at Your feet. Do whatever You must do, gladly now, O Hari. I have firmly taken hold of You. Tuka says: I do not know at all what is good for me. You save me, O Ananta.
What it means
Tukaram admits he has lost the ability to tell the real from the false. The world's tricks look solid, yet they dissolve under any honest look, and that leaves him heavy with sorrow and blind to what comes next. So he stops trying to manage his own rescue: he puts his head at God's feet and tells Hari to do whatever needs doing. The confession is the point. He does not even know what is good for him, so he hands that knowing over too, and asks Ananta simply to save him.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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