Prayer, guard me from my own faults
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नरस्तुति आणि कथेचा विकरा । हें नको दातारा घडों देऊं ॥1॥
ऐसिये कृपेचि भाकितों करुणा । आहेसि तूं राणा उदाराचा ॥ध्रु.॥
पराविया नारी आणि परधना । नको देऊं मनावरी येऊं ॥2॥
भूतांचा मत्सर आणि संतनिंदा । हें नको गोविंदा घडों देऊं ॥3॥
देहअभिमान नको देऊं शरीरीं । चढों कांहीं परी एक देऊं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे तुझ्या पायांचा विसर । नको वारंवार पडों देऊं ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Do not let me fall into flattering mortals or making a trade of sacred storytelling. For this mercy I pray to You; You are the king of the generous. Do not let the desire for another's wife or another's wealth rise in my mind. Do not let me harbor malice toward any being or speak ill of the saints. Do not let the pride of the body grow in me by any means. Says Tuka, do not let me forget Your feet again and again.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Do not let me flatter mortals, and do not let me make a trade of telling Your story, O Giver. For this mercy I beg of You; You are the king of the generous. Do not let the wish for another's wife or another's wealth rise in my mind. Do not let me envy any creature or speak ill of the saints, Govinda. Do not let pride of the body grow in me by any means; let it not rise at all. Tuka says: do not let me forget Your feet, again and again.
What it means
This is a prayer asked entirely in the negative: keep me from the faults I am prone to. Tukaram lists them one by one: flattering powerful men, selling sacred storytelling for gain, coveting another's wife or wealth, envy of others, slander of the saints, and the swelling pride of the body. He cannot trust his own strength against these, so he hands the whole guard to God, whom he calls the king of the generous. The last and largest plea holds the rest together: do not let me forget Your feet, because forgetting God is the root from which every other fault grows.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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