Prayer, the Name that burns karma
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देवा आदिदेवा जगत्रया जीवा । परियेसीं केशवा विनंती माझी ॥1॥
माझी वाणी तुझे वर्णी तुझे वर्णी गुण नाम । ऐसी देई प्रेम कांहीं कळा ॥2॥
कळा तुजपाशीं आमचें जीवन । उचित करून देई आह्मां ॥3॥
आह्मां शरणागतां तुझा चि आधार। तूं तंव सागर कृपासिंधु ॥4॥
सिंधु पायावाट होय तुझ्या नामें । जाळीं महाकर्में दुस्तरें तीं ॥5॥
तीं फळें उत्तमें तुझा निजध्यास । नाहीं गर्भवास सेविलिया ॥6॥
सेविंलिया राम कृष्ण नारायण । नाहीं त्या बंधन संसाराचें ॥7॥
संसार तें काय तृणवतमय । अिग्न त्यासी खाय क्षणमात्रें ॥8॥
क्षणमात्रें जाळी दोषांचिया रासी । निंद्य उत्तमासी वंद्य करी ॥9॥
करीं िब्रदें साच आपलीं आपण । पतितपावन दिनानाथ ॥10॥
नाथ अनाथाचा पति गोपिकांचा । पुरवी चित्तींचा मनोरथ ॥11॥
चित्तीं जें धरावें तुका ह्मणे दासीं । पुरविता होसी मनोरथ ॥12॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
O God of gods, O Life of the three worlds, hear my prayer, O Keshava. Let my speech ever sing Your virtues and Your Name. Grant me some art of love for this. The art of our life resides with You. Grant us what is fitting. We who have surrendered have no support but You. You are the ocean, the sea of compassion. By Your Name, the ocean itself makes way. Your Name burns the greatest, most impassable karmas. The finest fruit of steadfast contemplation on You is freedom from the womb. One who serves Rama, Krishna, and Narayana has no bonds of worldly existence. What is this world but a thing of straw? Fire devours it in an instant. In a moment it burns away heaps of sins, transforming the despised into the honored. Make Your own pledges come true. O Purifier of the Fallen, Lord of the humble. Lord of the helpless, Husband of the gopis, You fulfill the chitta's desire. Says Tuka, whatever the servants hold in their chitta, You fulfill their every wish.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
O God of gods, O Life of the three worlds, hear my prayer, O Keshava. Let my speech sing your virtues and your Name. Grant me some art of love for this. The art of our life rests with you. Grant us what is fitting. We who have surrendered have no support but you. You are the ocean, the sea of compassion. By your Name the ocean itself makes way. Your Name burns the greatest, most impassable karmas. The finest fruit of steady contemplation on you is freedom from the womb. One who serves Rama, Krishna, and Narayana has no bonds of the world. What is this world but a thing of straw? Fire eats it up in a moment. In a moment it burns away heaps of sins, turning the despised into the honored. Make your own pledges come true, O Purifier of the Fallen, Lord of the humble. Lord of the helpless, Husband of the gopis, you fulfill the heart's desire. Tuka says: whatever your servants hold in their heart, you fulfill their every wish.
What it means
This is a direct prayer, and its one request is small in words and large in stakes: let my speech be given over to singing God's Name. Tukaram surrenders entirely, saying the surrendered have no support but Keshava, the sea of compassion. He then names what the Name does: it parts the impassable ocean of existence, burns the heaviest karmas in a moment, and frees one from the cycle of the womb. He calls the whole world a thing of straw that fire eats up at once, so that the despised sinner is turned into the honored. The close holds God to his own titles, Purifier of the Fallen and Lord of the helpless, asking him to make his pledges true and fulfill what the devotee holds in the heart.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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