Prayer, anguish at the suffering of others
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न देखवे डोळां ऐसा हा आकांत । परपीडे चित्त दुःखी होतें ॥१॥
काय तुम्ही येथें नसालसें जालें । आम्हीं न देखिलें पाहिजे हें ॥ध्रु.॥
परचक्र कोठें हरिदासांच्या वासें । न देखिजेत देशें राहातिया ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे माझी लाजविली सेवा । हीनपणें देवा जिणें जालें ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My eyes cannot bear to witness this devastation; my chitta grieves when others are tormented. Are you not present here? Must we be made to see such things? Where the devotees of Hari dwell, no hostile force should be able to reach their land. Says Tuka, my service has been put to shame; this lowly existence, O God, has become unbearable.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My eyes cannot bear to watch this ruin. My chitta grieves when others are tormented. Are you not here? Must we be made to see such things? Where the servants of Hari live, no hostile force should reach their land. Tuka says: my service has been put to shame. This low life, O God, has become unbearable.
What it means
Tukaram is crying out to God over violence and devastation he cannot stand to witness. His grief is not for himself but for others who are being tormented, and his protest is sharp: if you are present, how can this be allowed to come before our eyes? He appeals to a kind of covenant, that where Hari's devotees dwell no hostile force should be able to invade. The closing line carries the wound of it: his lifelong service feels shamed and his existence unbearable, because the God he serves seems to stand by. The poem keeps faith and complaint in the same breath, the way a servant complains only to the master he still trusts.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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