Prayer of Repentance - History

History

Meher Baba originally dictated the prayer in Gujarati in November 1951. It was then translated into English by two disciples Eruch Jessawala and William Donkin." However it was not introduced until one year later on November 8, 1952. Baba introduced the prayer saying, "Maybe some of you, or many of you, or all of you have no bindings, or desires and attachments. But as today I am in this state (of a devotee) I would like you to join me, to encourage me in asking God's forgiveness." The prayer was read aloud numerous times in Baba's presence, often with an added prelude written by Baba. For example in 1954 it was read aloud in Baba's presence by his disciple William Donkin with the following prelude:

O the eternally benevolent Paramatma! O all-merciful Allah! O the most merciful God Almighty! O giver of all boons, Yazdan! Being fully aware of your absolute independence and your absolute indifference, Baba, with all humbleness, implores you, O allmerciful God! to accept the prayer of repentance from him on behalf of all his lovers and on behalf of all who are worthy of being forgiven.

In an interview by Tim Owens at Meherazad in 1980, Eruch Jessawala described the process of translating prayers by Baba. "When a prayer was given by Him, it remained a prayer. Some words were in Gujarati, Urdu, some in Hindi or Persian, most in English. Then we'd do a little dressing-up in English and read it out to Baba, and He'd approve what He had dictated. He also inspired the ones who would do the dressing-up. The whole thing was 'rattled out' in the first place, given quite spontaneously."

The prayer was one of two prayers Baba asked his followers around the world to recite daily for a period of six months, from the end of January to the end of July 1968.