Prayer, asking to see God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुजवरी ज्याचें मन । दरुषण दे त्याचें ॥1॥
कैसा जाती शुद्ध भाव । हात पाव ना वृत्ती ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघियांचा करूनि मेळा । तुज डोळां रोखिलें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुज आड । लपोनि कोड दावीं देवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Grant the sight of that one whose mind is fixed upon You. How can pure devotion fade when it has no hands, no feet, no worldly function? Gather up all the faculties and fix them upon You. Says Tuka, hiding behind me, You reveal Your playful wonders, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Grant me the sight You give to the one whose mind is fixed on You. How can pure feeling fade, when it has no hands, no feet, no worldly function? I have gathered all my faculties and aimed them at You. Tuka says: hiding behind me, You show Your playful wonders, O God.
What it means
Tukaram asks for the vision granted to a wholehearted devotee, then argues why his own longing will not run out. Pure devotion has no hands or feet or worldly business of its own; having nothing to do but love, it cannot tire or wander off the way ordinary works do. He has bundled every faculty together and pointed them all at God like one aim. The closing line catches the strange game of it: God is not far away but hidden right behind the seeker, putting on His wonders just out of sight. The plea to be shown is really a plea for the hidden, near God to step into view.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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