Confession, surrender of the sinner
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पापा नाहीं पार दुःखाचे डोंगर । जालों ये भूमीसी ओझें ॥1॥
काय विटंबना सांगों किती । पाषाण फुटती ऐसें दुःख ।
नर नारी सकळ उत्तम चांडाळ । न पाहाती माझें मुख ॥ध्रु.॥
निंदा द्वेष घात विश्वासीं व्यभिचार । आणीक सांगों किती काय ॥2॥
लक्ष्मीमदें मातें घडले महा दोष । पत्नी दोनी भेदभेद ।
पितृवचन घडली अवज्ञा अविचार। कुटिल कचर वादी निंद्य ॥3॥
आणीक किती सांगों ते अवगुण । न वळे जिव्हा कांपे मन ।
भुतदया उपकार नाहीं शब्दा धीर । विषयीं लंपट हीन ॥4॥
संत महानुभाव ऐका हें उत्तरें। अवगुण अविचारें वृिद्ध पापा ।
तुका ह्मणे सरतें करा पांडुरंगीं । शरण आलों मायबापा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My sins are beyond measure, mountains of sorrow. I have become a burden upon this earth. How much disgrace shall I recount? The suffering is enough to split a stone. All people, high and low, turn away from my face. Slander, malice, betrayal, hypocrisy, and more besides. Intoxicated by wealth, I committed grave offenses. I disregarded my father's word and acted with thoughtless cruelty. My tongue cannot speak further, and my mind trembles. I had no compassion, no gratitude, no steadiness of speech; I was vile and base in sensual pursuits. O great saints, hear these words. Through faults and folly my sins have multiplied. Says Tuka, settle my account in Panduranga's name. I have come to surrender, O Mother and Father.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My sins have no shore; they are mountains of sorrow. I have become a weight on this earth. How much shame shall I tell? The pain is enough to split a stone. All people, high and low, will not look at my face. Slander, malice, betrayal, breaking of trust, and how much more shall I name? Drunk on wealth, I committed grave wrongs. I disregarded my father's word; I acted blind and rash; I was crooked, foul, quarrelsome, fit to be blamed. How many more faults shall I tell? My tongue will not turn, my mind shakes. I had no mercy for living things, no gratitude, no steadiness in my word; I was low, a slave to my senses. Saints, great souls, hear these words. By faults and folly my sins have grown huge. Tuka says: set my account right in Panduranga, I have come to surrender, O Mother and Father.
What it means
Tukaram lays out the whole ledger of his failings without softening any of it: slander, betrayal, pride in wealth, defiance of his father, cruelty, slavery to the senses. He does not perform humility; he names the pattern honestly, to the point where his tongue stalls and his mind trembles. But the long confession is not despair, it is the price of admission. Having seen that his sins are mountains beyond counting, he stops trying to clear them himself and brings the unpayable account to Panduranga, taking refuge as a child runs to its mother and father. The model is plain: name the wrong fully, then surrender it rather than excuse it.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
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