Confession, the fear that betrays surrender
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुज दिला देह । आजूनि वागवितों भय ॥1॥
ऐसा विश्वासघातकी । घडली कळतां हे चुकी ॥ध्रु.॥
बोलतों जें तोंडें । नाहीं अनुभविलें लंडें ॥2॥
दंड लाहें केला । तुका ह्मणे जी विठ्ठला ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I surrendered this body to You, yet I still carry fear within. When I see the extent of this betrayal of trust, I recognize my error. What I speak with my mouth, I have not truly experienced or embodied. Says Tuka, I have earned this punishment rightly, O Vitthal.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I gave this body to You. Even now I go on carrying fear inside me. I am such a betrayer of trust. When I see it clearly, I know it is my own fault. What I speak with my mouth, I, a worthless one, have not truly lived. Tuka says: I have rightly earned this punishment, O Vitthal.
What it means
Tukaram catches himself in a contradiction and names it honestly. He has handed his whole body over to God, yet fear still lives in him, and he sees that this fear is itself a breach of the surrender he made. He calls it betrayal of trust, and he refuses to spare himself: the holy words his mouth speaks he has not actually lived. There is no plea for mercy here, only the bare admission that whatever punishment comes, he has earned it. The poem turns the listener back toward self-examination: surrender that still clutches its fear has not yet become real.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
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