Confession, the danger of praise
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हीन माझी याति । वरी स्तुती केली संतीं ॥1॥
अंगीं वसूं पाहे गर्व । माझें हरावया सर्व ॥ध्रु.॥
मी एक जाणता । ऐसें वाटतसे चित्ता ॥2॥
राख राख गेलों वांयां । तुका ह्मणे पंढरीराया ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My caste is lowly, yet the saints have praised me. Now pride seeks to enter my being and rob me of everything. The thought arises in my mind that I alone am wise. Says Tuka, protect me, protect me, O Lord of Pandhari, lest I be ruined.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My birth is lowly, yet the saints have praised me. Now pride wants to settle in me and rob me of everything. The thought rises in my mind that I alone am wise. Tuka says: save me, save me, Lord of Pandhari, or I am ruined.
What it means
Tukaram is confessing a danger that comes not from failure but from honor. He knows his birth is humble, yet the saints have praised him, and that very praise is now breeding pride that threatens to steal all he has gained. He catches the precise lie pride whispers: that he alone is the one who knows. Instead of trusting himself to handle it, he cries to the Lord of Pandhari to protect him, naming the plain stakes: left to this pride, he will be ruined, and only God can hold him.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
More in this theme →