Confession, shameless calling out
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
स्तुती तरि करूं काय कोणापासीं । कीर्त तरि कैसी वाखाणावी ॥1॥
खोटएा तंव नाहीं अनुवादाचें काम । उरला भ्रम वरि बरा ॥ध्रु.॥
ह्मणवावें त्याची खुण नाहीं हातीं । अवकळा फजिती सावकाशें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हेंगे तुमचें माझें तोंड । होऊनिया लंड आळवितों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Whom shall I praise, and how shall I glorify Your fame? For what is false, there is no need for commentary; whatever delusion remains on the surface, let it be. The signs that one claims to bear are not in hand; disgrace and shame unfold at leisure. Says Tuka, here is the truth between You and me: I have become shameless and I call out to You openly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whom shall I praise, and how should I tell out Your fame? For what is false there is no use in fine talk; whatever delusion is left on top, let it stay. The marks one claims to wear are not in my hand; the disgrace and the shaming unfold at their own pace. Tuka says: here is the truth between You and me. I have become shameless, and I call out to You openly.
What it means
Tukaram drops all pretense of being a worthy devotee. He confesses he has no genuine credentials, no inner signs to show; whatever looks like attainment is surface delusion, and exposure will come in its own time. Rather than dress this up, he sets it plainly before God as the honest fact between them. His only move left is to abandon shame and cry out openly, just as he is. The poem turns weakness into the one true prayer: a frank, unguarded appeal with nothing to hide behind.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
More in this theme →