Confession, words without the melting heart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देह निरसे तरी । बोलावया नुरे उरी ॥1॥
येर वाचेचें वाग्जाळ । अळंकारापुरते बोल ॥ध्रु.॥
काचें तरी कढे । जाती ऐसें चित्त ओढे ॥2॥
विष्णुदास तुका । पूर्ण धनी जाणे चुका॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If the body is transcended, nothing remains to be spoken. All else is mere verbal ornamentation, words for the sake of decoration. If one could truly melt from within, the mind would be drawn that way. Says Tuka, the perfect Lord knows well the shortcomings of Vishnudas.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Once the body is left behind, nothing is left to say. All the rest is just a net of words, talk for the sake of ornament. If the heart could truly melt, the mind would be drawn that way. Tuka says: Vishnudas. The perfect Lord knows my failings well.
What it means
Tukaram is measuring his own speech against real surrender and finding it short. He says that beyond the body there is nothing more to be spoken; everything else is decorative chatter, words strung up for show. True devotion would mean the heart actually melting, and then the mind would be pulled toward God on its own. Signing as Vishnudas, the servant of Vishnu, he admits that his Lord, who is complete, sees clearly where he falls short. The poem turns the suspicion of empty words back on himself rather than on others.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
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