Prayer, scorched by the world
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संवसारतापें तापलों मी देवा । करितां या सेवा कुटुंबाची ॥१॥
म्हणऊनी तुझे आठविले पाय । ये वो माझे माय पांडुरंगे ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुतां जन्मींचा जालों भारवाही । सुटिजे हें नाहीं वर्म ठावें ॥२॥
वेढियेलों चोरीं अंतर्बाह्यात्कारीं । कणव न करी कोणी माझी ॥३॥
बहु पांगविलों बहु नागविलों । बहु दिवस जालों कासाविस ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे आतां धांव घाली वेगीं । ब्रीद तुझें जगीं दीननाथा ॥५॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am scorched, O God, by the fire of worldly life, worn out from serving this household. And so I have remembered Your feet; come to me, O my mother Panduranga. Through countless births I have been a beast of burden, yet the crux of release remains unknown to me. Thieves have surrounded me inside and out, and no one shows me any mercy. I have been scattered in every direction, stripped naked, writhing in agony for so many days. Says Tuka, rush to me now, O Lord of the lowly; Your renown in the world is the refuge of the destitute.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am scorched, O God, by the fire of worldly life, worn out from serving this household. So I have remembered your feet at last; come to me, my mother Panduranga. For many births I have been a beast of burden, and I still do not know the secret of how to be set free. Thieves have surrounded me, inside and out, and not one person shows me any mercy. I have been scattered, stripped bare, writhing for days on end. Tuka says: come running now, quickly, Lord of the lowly; your very name in the world is the refuge of the destitute.
What it means
One of Tukaram's most heartfelt cries, the prayer of a man at the end of his strength. Burned out by the demands of household life and lost through many births like a yoked animal, he confesses he does not even know how release is found. The thieves inside and out are his own passions and the world's pressures, and no human help comes. So he throws himself entirely on God, whom he calls mother and Lord of the lowly, and reminds God of his own reputation: if you are known in the world as the refuge of the destitute, then here is a destitute man, come quickly. It is surrender born of exhaustion, and it is complete.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
More in this theme →