Self-examination, faults given a home
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुह्मी माझा देवा करिजे अंगीकार । हा नाहीं विचार मजपाशीं ॥1॥
आतां दोहीं पक्षीं लागलें लक्षणें । देवभक्तपण लाजविलें ॥ध्रु.॥
एकांतीं एकलें न राहे निश्चळ । न राहे च पळ मन ठायीं ॥2॥
पायीं महत्वाची पडिली शंकळा । बांधविला गळा स्नेहा हातीं ॥3॥
शरीर सोकलें देखिलिया सुखा । कदान्न हें मुखा मान्य नाहीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे जाला अवगुणांचा थारा । वाढली हे निद्रा अळस बहु ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
That You should accept me, O Lord, is not something I can reason out. Now both sides stand embarrassed; the honor of both God and devotee is at stake. Alone in solitude, the mind will not stay still; it does not rest even for a moment. A chain of attachment binds my feet, and affection has tied a noose around my neck. The body has withered from the sight of joy, and coarse food no longer satisfies the mouth. Says Tuka, a haven of faults has been established; sloth and drowsiness have grown beyond measure.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
That you should take me up, my Lord, is not something I can work out by reasoning. Now signs have appeared on both sides; the honor of both God and devotee has been shamed. Alone in solitude my mind will not stay still; it does not rest in one place even for a moment. A chain of importance has fallen onto my feet, and affection has tied a noose around my neck. The body has grown soft, used to comfort; coarse food no longer pleases the mouth. Tuka says: my faults have been given a home; sleep and laziness have grown beyond measure.
What it means
This is a frank inventory of the devotee's own failings, offered as confession. Tukaram says he cannot reason his way to deserving God's acceptance, and that the present state shames both of them, since a failed devotee reflects on God too. He then lists the patterns he is caught in: a restless mind that will not sit still, the craving for importance and the bonds of attachment, a body grown used to comfort that now rejects plain food, and sloth that keeps growing. The poem turns the gaze inward, naming the very ruts a seeker falls into, so that the failings can be seen plainly rather than excused.
Longing and Separation
Cries from the dark night of the soul: remonstrances, complaints, and desperate yearning.
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