I have been harassed by the world; I have dwelt
in my mother’s womb; I must enter the gate
of the womb eight million times; I am born a
needy beggar; my life is passed under a stranger’s
power; I am fast bound in the meshes of my past;
the fated influence of the past continues with me,
it puts forth its power and whirls me along. My
stomach is empty; I am never at rest; I have no
fixed course or home or village. I have no power,
O God, to end my wanderings; my soul dances
about like rice frying in a pan. Ages have passed
in this futile strain; I know not how many more
await me. I cannot close my course, for it begins
again; so the end of the world must set me free.
Who will finish this suffering of mine? Who will
take my burden on himself? Thy name will
convey me over the sea of the world; thou dost
run to help the distressed. Now run to me, O
Narayana, me, poor and wretched that I am; consider
not my merits or my faults; Tuka implores
thy mercy.
in my mother’s womb; I must enter the gate
of the womb eight million times; I am born a
needy beggar; my life is passed under a stranger’s
power; I am fast bound in the meshes of my past;
the fated influence of the past continues with me,
it puts forth its power and whirls me along. My
stomach is empty; I am never at rest; I have no
fixed course or home or village. I have no power,
O God, to end my wanderings; my soul dances
about like rice frying in a pan. Ages have passed
in this futile strain; I know not how many more
await me. I cannot close my course, for it begins
again; so the end of the world must set me free.
Who will finish this suffering of mine? Who will
take my burden on himself? Thy name will
convey me over the sea of the world; thou dost
run to help the distressed. Now run to me, O
Narayana, me, poor and wretched that I am; consider
not my merits or my faults; Tuka implores
thy mercy.