Prayer, guard me from pride
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐकें पांडुरंगा वचन माझें एक । जालों मी सेवक दास तुझा ॥1॥
कळे तैसा आतां करावा उद्धार । खुंटला विचार माझा पुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
दंभ मान माझा करूं पाहे घात । जालिया ही थीत कारणाचा ॥2॥
हीन बुिद्ध माझी अधम हे याती । अहंकार चित्तीं वसों पाहे ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे मज विघडतां क्षण । न लगे जतन करीं देवा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Hear me, O Panduranga, hear this one word of mine: I have become Your servant and slave. Deliver me now in whatever way You see fit, for my own thinking has come to its end. Pride and vanity seek to ruin me, even though the ground has been won. My intellect is low and my lineage is humble, yet ego strives to take root in my chitta. Says Tuka, I can be undone in an instant; therefore guard me, O Lord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Hear, Panduranga, this one word of mine: I have become your servant, your slave. Now lift me up however you see fit, for my own thinking has come to its end. Pride and the wish for honor are trying to destroy me, even after the ground was won. My understanding is low, my birth is humble, yet ego keeps trying to take root in my heart. Tuka says: I can be undone in a single moment; so keep watch over me, Lord.
What it means
Tukaram declares his surrender and then names the danger that survives it. He has become God's servant and has run out of his own resources, so he asks God to do the lifting. The threat he points to is inward: pride and the appetite for honor that try to wreck him even after he thought the battle was won. He calls his own intellect poor and his lineage humble, and admits that ego still keeps trying to plant itself in his heart. The plea is for vigilance: knowing he can fall in an instant, he asks God to stand guard. The poem turns the examination on the self, watching for pride rather than blaming anyone else.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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