Confession, hollow reputation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
लाज वाटे मज मानिती हे लोक । हें तों नाहीं एक माझे अंगी ॥1॥
मजुनि झिजलों मापाचिया परी । जाळावी हे थोरी लाभाविण ॥ध्रु.॥
कोमळ कंटक तीक्षण अगरीं । पोचट ते वरी अंगकांति ॥2॥
चित्रींचे लेप शृंगारिलें निकें । जीवेंविण फिकें रूप त्याचें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे दिसें वांयां गेलों देवा । अनुभव ठावा नाहीं तेणें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I feel ashamed that people honor me, for I possess none of the qualities they suppose. I have been worn thin like a measuring cup, and this reputation without substance should be set ablaze. A thorn may look soft on the outside but is sharp within; the outward glow of skin is only a thin veneer. A painted figure may be decorated beautifully, but without life its beauty is hollow. Says Tuka, O God, I appear to have lived in vain, for I possess no real experience.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I feel ashamed that people honor me, for I have none of the things they think I have. I have worn thin like a measuring cup, and this greatness without substance should be burned. A thorn can look soft outside but is sharp within; the glow of skin is only a thin layer. A painted figure can be dressed up beautifully, but without life its beauty is empty. Tuka says: O God, I seem to have lived in vain, for I have no real experience.
What it means
Tukaram turns the praise he receives into a charge against himself. The honor shames him because he says he lacks the very qualities people assume are his; the reputation is a measuring cup worn smooth from handling, all surface and no contents. He piles up images of hollowness, the soft-looking thorn, the thin gleam of skin, the lifeless painted figure, to insist that decoration without inner life is worthless. Then he lays the fear bare before God: that his life has been wasted because he has no real, lived realization to stand on. This is the saint's self-examination, holding his own emptiness up rather than resting on others' regard.
Confession and Sin
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