# XXXVI explained — Gitanjali

> Chapter companion for Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore.

## What happens

The poet prays to the divine for inner strength to overcome poverty of spirit, bear joys and sorrows lightly, serve with love, remain humble before the poor and defiant against arrogance, rise above trivial concerns, and surrender his own strength to the divine will.

## Themes in this chapter

### Surrender and Egolessness

The poet explicitly asks for strength to surrender his own strength to the divine will with love.

### Poverty and Humility

The prayer begins with a plea to strike at the root of penury in the heart and includes a resolve never to disown the poor.

## Character check-ins

### The Poet

The speaker who offers the prayer.

### The Divine

The recipient of the prayer, addressed as 'thee' and 'thy will'.

## Key lines

> This is my prayer to thee, my lord—strike, strike at the root of penury in my heart.

I beg you, my lord, to eradicate the deep-seated poverty within me.

_The poet asks for inner purification from spiritual or material poverty._

> Give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.

Grant me the power to lovingly yield my own power to your divine plan.

_The ultimate request is for egoless submission to the divine._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se/chapters/xxxvi
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se/chapters