Grief at others turning away
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दुःख वाटे ऐसी ऐकोनियें गोष्टी । जेणें घडे तुटी तुझ्या पायीं ॥1॥
येतो कळवळा देखोनियां घात । करितों फजित नाइकती ॥ध्रु.॥
काय करूं देवा ऐसी नाहीं शक्ति । दंडुनि पुढती वाटे लावूं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मज दावूं नको ऐसे । दृष्टीपुढें पिसे पांडुरंगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
It pains me to hear any talk that would cause separation from Your feet. Seeing people harming themselves, compassion arises in me, and I try to correct them, but they will not listen. What can I do, O God? I lack the power to punish them and set them right. Says Tuka, O Panduranga, do not show me such sights before my eyes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It pains me to hear any talk that would break me from your feet. When I see people harming themselves, pity rises in me. I try to set them right, but they will not listen. What can I do, O God? I have no power to discipline them and turn them around. Tuka says: O Panduranga, do not put such sights before my eyes.
What it means
Tukaram is praying out of grief for others, not for himself. Anything that would loosen his hold on Vitthal's feet hurts him to hear, and the same love makes him ache when he watches people ruin themselves spiritually. He has the compassion to try to correct them, but not the authority to force them; they simply will not listen. So he turns his helplessness into a prayer: rather than be made to watch self-destruction he cannot stop, he asks God to spare his eyes the sight. The pain is in his powerlessness before another's free refusal, and he hands even that over to Panduranga.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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