Confession, the outer show without the inner
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माझे तों स्वभाव मज अनावर । तुज ही देतां भार कांहीं नव्हे ॥1॥
ऐसें कळों आलें मज नारायणा । जागृती स्वपना ताळ नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
संपादितों तो अवघा बाहए रंग । तुझा नाहीं संग अभ्यंतरीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सत्या नाहीं पाठी पोट । असतें निघोंट एकी जाती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My own nature is beyond my control, yet for You, O Lord, bearing this burden is nothing. This much I have understood, O Narayana: between waking and dreaming there is no consistency. All that I manage is the outer appearance, but Your presence is not yet within. Says Tuka, truth has no front or back; if it were pure, it would go through as one.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My own nature is beyond my control. For You to bear this load is nothing at all. This much I have come to see, Narayana: between my waking and my dream there is no agreement. All I keep up is the outer color. Your company is not yet within me. Tuka says: truth has no front and no back. If it were pure, it would pass straight through as one.
What it means
Tukaram makes an honest confession about the gap between his outside and his inside. He admits his nature is out of his own hands, while for the Lord such a burden is nothing to carry. What he has seen clearly is his own inconsistency: his waking life and his inner life do not match. He keeps up only the outer color of devotion, while the Lord's true company has not yet entered him. The closing standard is severe and clean: truth has no front or back, no two faces; were he genuine, he would be the same all the way through, passing straight as a single piece.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
More in this theme →