Prayer, asking for shelter to worship
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भीत नाहीं आतां आपुल्या मरणा । दुःखी होतां जना न देखवे ॥१॥
आमची तो जाती ऐसी परंपरा । कां तुम्ही दातारा नेणां ऐसें ॥ध्रु.॥
भजनीं विक्षेप तें चि पैं मरण । न वजावा क्षण एक वांयां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नाहीं आघाताचा वारा । ते स्थळीं दातारा ठाव मागें ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not fear my own death; what I cannot bear is seeing people suffer. Our tradition has always been thus, generation upon generation; how is it, O Generous Lord, that you do not know this? Any interruption of worship is itself death to me; not a single moment should pass in vain. Says Tuka, grant me a place where there is no threat of violence, O Lord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not fear my own death now. What I cannot bear is to watch people suffer. Our line has always been like this, family after family; how is it, O Giving Lord, that you do not know it? Any break in worship is itself death to me; not one moment should pass in vain. Tuka says: grant me a place where no blow can fall, O Giving Lord.
What it means
Tukaram is asking God not for safety from death but for the conditions to keep worshipping. He has no fear for himself; his pain is the sight of others suffering, a tenderness he says has run through his lineage for generations, so he reproaches the Lord for seeming not to know it. For him the true death is any interruption of bhajan, any moment of devotion lost. So his single request is for a refuge free of violence, a place where worship cannot be broken. The prayer reveals what he counts as life and death: continuous devotion is life, and its interruption is the only death worth dreading.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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