Tukaram, Poem 18

My life has been passed in seeking every pleasure; I have not pursued for one moment liberation. I have vexed myself with wandering in every region; my life has been shrouded in illusion. There is none who knows my true welfare, none to help me but myself. Even the saints know not the true source of bliss, the beginning or the end of it. How can I tell the torments of the womb, though I have endured them? O Narayana, I was conscious of the flesh and its secretions; when I tried to think of Thee, when I drew near to death, I knew Thee not, though Thou wast near to me. Dust returns to dust; the store of the past clings to the soul. Now I entreat Thee, grant that I may serve thee. Tuka beseeches Thee, O Kesava, show him the path through life.