Confession, the gap behind a good name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भला ह्मणे जन । परि नाहीं समाधान ॥1॥
माझें तळमळी चित्त । अंतरलें दिसे हित ॥ध्रु.॥
कृपेचा आधार । नाहीं दंभ जाला भार ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कृपे । अंतराय कोण्या पापें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
People call me good, but I have no inner peace. My chitta churns with unrest; true welfare seems to have slipped away. There is no foundation of grace; pretense has become a burden. Says Tuka, what sin has caused this obstacle to Your compassion?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
People call me good, but I have no peace inside. My mind churns with unrest; the real good seems to have slipped away from me. I have no ground of grace under me; pretense has grown into a weight. Tuka says: by what sin is your mercy held back from me?
What it means
Tukaram sets his public reputation against what he actually feels and finds them at odds. Others praise him as good, but inwardly there is no rest, and the thing that truly matters seems lost; he even calls his outer show pretense, a burden he is carrying. Rather than defend himself, he turns the question on his own life and asks God what fault of his is keeping grace away. The honesty is the point: he refuses to mistake being called good for being at peace, and he looks inward for the blockage.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
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