śrī dattātreya karuṇā tripadi (marāṭhī)

The Karuṇā Tripadī of Vāsudevānanda Sarasvatī, in Marathi and in three parts, and the most widely sung text in the Datta tradition. It opens on the line that everyone knows it by — śānta ho Śrīgurudattā, mama cittā śamavī ātā, be at peace, Gurudatta, and quiet my mind now — and returns to it as a refrain. What follows is argued rather than merely felt. You alone are mother and father, kinsman and brother, and the only protector; you are the one who causes fear and the one who removes it, and the one who holds the rod. Then the difficulty the whole prayer turns on: if you punish us justly for our offence we will still sing your praise and bow at your feet, but if you are the one striking, whom are we to run to — who else is left to save us from you?