Prayer, teach me how to reach you
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कैसें करूं ध्यान कैसा पाहों तुज । वर्म दावीं मज याचकासी ॥1॥
कैसी भक्ती करूं सांग तुझी सेवा । कोण्या भावें देवा आतुडसी ॥ध्रु.॥
कैसी कीर्ती वाणूं कैसा लक्षा आणूं । जाणूं हा कवण कैसा तुज ॥2॥
कैसा गाऊं गीतीं कैसा ध्याऊं चित्तीं । कैसी िस्थती मती दावीं मज ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे जैसें दास केलें देवा। तैसें हें अनुभवा आणीं मज ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
How shall I meditate? How shall I behold You? Show me the secret, for I am a beggar. How shall I practice devotion? Tell me what service You require. By what feeling can You be reached, O God? How shall I sing Your glory? How shall I bring You to mind? How shall I know You? How shall I sing of You in song? How shall I contemplate You in my heart? Show me the right way and understanding. Says Tuka, just as You made me Your servant, O God, so bring me to that experience.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How shall I meditate? How shall I look upon you? Show me the secret, for I am a beggar at your door. How shall I do devotion? Tell me what service you want. By what feeling are you reached, O God? How shall I sing your glory? How shall I bring you to mind? How shall I know you, and who can know you, and how? How shall I sing you in song? How shall I hold you in my heart? Show me the right state and the right understanding. Tuka says: just as you made me your servant, O God, so bring me into that living experience.
What it means
Tukaram is praying by piling up questions, and the questions themselves are the prayer. He does not assume he already knows how to meditate, worship, or even recognize God; he begs to be shown the secret like a beggar asking for alms. The repeated how reveals his stance: he will not manufacture devotion out of his own cleverness but waits to be taught the inner method, the feeling that actually reaches God. The closing turn is the heart of it. Since it was God who first made him a servant, he asks God to finish the work and carry him from these questions into direct experience.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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