Confession, the unskilled servant
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न कळे जी भक्ती काय करूं सेवा । संकोचोनि देवा राहिलोंसे ॥1॥
जोडोनियां कर राहिलों निवांत । पायांपाशीं चित्त ठेवूनियां ॥ध्रु.॥
दिशाभुली करीं स्थळीं प्रदक्षणा । भ्रमें नारायणा कष्टविलें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जालों आज्ञोचा पाळक । जीवनासी एक ठाव केला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not know what devotion is or how to serve You, O Lord, and so I have withdrawn in hesitation. With folded hands I remain quiet, keeping my mind fixed at Your feet. In my confusion I circumambulate the wrong places; in my error, O Narayana, I have wearied You. Says Tuka, I have become a keeper of Your command, making Your service the one abode of my life.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not know, my Lord, what devotion is or how to serve. So I have held back, shrinking from it. With folded hands I stay quiet, keeping my mind at Your feet. Lost about directions, I circle the wrong places; in my confusion, O Narayana, I have wearied You. Tuka says: I have become the keeper of Your command, and made Your service the one place where my life rests.
What it means
Tukaram confesses incompetence at the very thing he is famous for. Not knowing the right method of worship, he withdraws and simply stands silent with folded hands, his mind fixed at the feet rather than at any technique. He admits his efforts have often gone astray, circling the wrong spots and tiring God out with his blundering. The resolution is to stop trusting his own skill and instead just obey, becoming a keeper of the command. The wisdom here is that helpless obedience, with the mind held at the feet, becomes the real service once cleverness is surrendered.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
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