Surrender, the heap of all sins
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अवघ्यां पातकांची मी एक रासी । अवघा तूं होसी सवाौत्तमु ॥1॥
जैसा तैसा लागे करणें अंगीकार । माझा सर्व भार चालविणें ॥ध्रु.॥
अवघें चि मज गििळयेलें काळें । अवघीं च बळें तुझे अंगीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां खुंटला उपाय । अवघे चि पाय तुझे मज ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am the very heap of all sins, while You are the supreme among all. However I am, You must accept me and carry my entire burden. Darkness has swallowed me whole, yet all strength resides in You. Says Tuka, every remedy has now been exhausted; Your feet alone remain for me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am the one heap of all sins; you are the highest of all that is good. Whatever I am, you have to take me up and carry my whole load. Darkness has swallowed me completely; all the strength is in you. Tuka says: now every remedy is finished. Your feet are all that is left for me.
What it means
Tukaram sets two extremes side by side: he is the gathered mass of every sin, and God is the highest good there is. From that gap he draws not despair but a claim on God: precisely because I am this and cannot fix it, the work of carrying me must be yours. He admits the dark has closed over him and that he has no strength of his own to spend. When every other remedy has run out, only one thing remains, and he names it plainly: your feet. The end of self-effort is the beginning of surrender.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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