Confession, the inflated servant
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काळावरी सत्ता । ऐशा करितो वारता ॥1॥
तो मी हीणाहूनि सांडें । देवे दुहें काळतोंडें ॥ध्रु.॥
मानूनी भर्वसा । होतों दासा मी ऐसा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मान । गेलों वाढवूं थोरपण ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He speaks of having authority over even death itself. Yet I should be cast aside as lower than the lowest. I was trusting, thinking myself to be a servant. Says Tuka, I went about inflating my own importance and honor.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He speaks as if he has power even over death. But I should be thrown aside as lower than the lowest. I took it on trust and thought, this is what I am, his servant. Tuka says: I went around puffing up my own importance, swelling my own greatness.
What it means
Tukaram catches himself in self-deception. He hears talk of having authority even over death, then turns the verdict on himself: he deserves to be cast out as the lowest of all. The trouble was that he believed his own status, taking it on trust that he was already a true servant of God. In the end he names the real fault plainly, that he went about inflating his own honor and greatness, mistaking borrowed pride for devotion.
Confession and Sin
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