Confession, the broken raft of pretense
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाहीं तुह्मी केला । अंगीकार तो विठ्ठला ॥1॥
सोंगें न पवीजे थडी । माजी फुटकी सांगडी ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रेम नाही अंगीं । भले ह्मणविलें जगीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देवा । मज वांयां कां चाळवा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You have not truly accepted me, O Vitthal. One cannot reach the shore on a broken raft of pretense. There is no real love in me, yet I am called good in the world. Says Tuka, O God, why do You raise my hopes in vain?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have not truly accepted me, O Vitthal. One cannot reach the far shore by playacting; my raft is cracked and leaking. There is no real love in me, yet the world calls me good. Tuka says: O God, why do You raise my hopes for nothing?
What it means
Tukaram refuses to take comfort in his own good reputation and turns the charge inward. The crossing to the far shore, liberation, cannot be made on a disguise; a raft that only looks whole but is split will sink, and he names his own as exactly that. He admits the world calls him good while the inner love is missing. The closing line is an honest complaint to Vitthal: if You have not really taken me up, then do not let me go on hoping in vain; the worst thing would be to be deceived about my own standing.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
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