Prayer, break the neck of ego
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कां जी तुह्मीं ऐसे नव्हा कृपावंत । निवे माझें चित्त ठायिंच्या ठायीं ॥1॥
कांही शम नये विषम अंतरा । शांतीचा तो बरा ऐसा योग ॥ध्रु.॥
दुःखी होतों पंचभूतांच्या विकारें । जडत्वें दातारें राखावीं तीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मोडा अहंकाराची मान । धरितों चरण ह्मणऊनि ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why are You not more gracious, so that my mind may find peace right where it stands? No calm comes to this troubled chitta. How blessed would be the union of true peace. I suffer from the disturbances of the five elements, and You, O generous Lord, must keep them in check. Says Tuka, break the neck of ego. That is why I hold onto Your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why are You not more kind, so my mind could be cooled right where it stands? No calm comes to this restless heart. How good it would be to be joined to peace. I suffer from the workings of the five elements; You, generous Lord, must hold them in check. Tuka says: break the neck of pride. That is why I hold on to Your feet.
What it means
Tukaram prays for an inner peace he cannot reach on his own. His mind stays troubled, stirred by the body and the five elements, the material nature he is made of, and only God can restrain these. The sharp request comes last: break the neck of ego. He sees pride as the thing standing between him and peace, so he asks God to kill it, and he names that as the whole reason he clings to God's feet. The poem makes clear that the calm he wants is not soothing but the destruction of self-importance.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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