Confession, words without depth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
शिकविले बोल । बोलें तैसी नाहीं ओल ॥1॥
आतां देवा संदेह नाहीं । वांयां गेलों यासी कांहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
एकांताचा वास । नाहीं संकल्पाचा नास ॥2॥
बुिद्ध नाहीं िस्थर । तुका ह्मणे शब्दा धीर ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I speak the words I have been taught, but there is no corresponding depth within. Now, O God, there is no doubt: I have gone to waste in some measure. I dwell in solitude, yet my thoughts do not cease. Says Tuka, my intellect is unsteady, though my speech is patient.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I speak the words I was taught, but the wetness is not in them. Now, O God, there is no doubt: in some part I have gone to waste. I live alone, yet my plans and wishes do not die. Tuka says: my mind will not hold still, though my speech keeps its patience.
What it means
Tukaram admits that his outward devotion and his inward state have come apart. He can say the right words he was taught, but they are dry; the moisture of real feeling is missing, and he names this plainly as a kind of waste in himself. Even withdrawing into solitude has not stilled the stream of wanting and scheming inside. The honesty cuts deep: his speech stays calm and patient while his mind refuses to settle, and he will not pretend the calm surface is the truth of him.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
More in this theme →