Humility, a child's crooked words
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बोलिलीं लेकुरें । वेडीं वांकुडीं उत्तरें ॥1॥
करा क्षमा अपराध । महाराज तुह्मी सिद्ध ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं विचारिला । अधिकार म्यां आपुला ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ज्ञानेश्वरा । राखा पायांपें किंकरा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Like a child, I have spoken crooked and stammering words. Forgive my transgressions, O great lords, you who are perfected beings. I did not first examine my own qualification. Says Tuka, O Dnyaneshwar, keep this humble servant at your feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Like a child, I have spoken crooked, stammering words. Forgive my faults, O great lords, you who are perfected. I did not first weigh my own fitness. Tuka says: O Dnyaneshwar, keep this servant at your feet.
What it means
Tukaram asks pardon for daring to speak at all before the perfected saints. He likens his own words to a child's crooked babble, knowing they are clumsy beside their greatness. His confessed fault is that he spoke without first measuring whether he was qualified to speak. Having admitted it, he does not withdraw but asks for the only place he wants: to be kept as a servant at Dnyaneshwar's feet, where unfitness is covered by the master's grace.
Autobiography
Tukaram's own account of his life, struggles, awakening, and mission.
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