Confession, the knot that will not loosen
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कळे परि न सुटे गांठी । जालें पोटीं कुपथ्य ॥1॥
अहंकाराचें आंदणें जीव । राहे कींव केली ते ॥ध्रु.॥
हेंकडाची एकी च वोढी । ते ही खोडी सांगती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सांगों किती । कांहीं चित्तीं न राहे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One understands, yet the inner knot does not loosen; the wrong diet has already entered the belly. The ego's dowry holds the jiva captive; where then is the compassion it was promised? Stubbornness pulls in only one direction, and even that fault people will point out. Says Tuka, how much can I explain? Nothing stays in anyone's mind.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I understand, yet the knot will not come loose; the wrong food is already in my belly. The ego's dowry holds the jiva captive; where is the mercy that was promised? Stubbornness pulls only one way, and even that fault people keep pointing out. Tuka says: how much can I keep explaining? Nothing stays in the mind.
What it means
Tukaram confesses a failure he can see clearly but cannot fix. He knows the knot of attachment is there, yet knowing does not untie it; the harm is already swallowed, like bad food taken in. The ego comes as a dowry the soul cannot return, keeping it bound, so the promised relief never arrives. His own stubbornness drags him in one fixed direction, a fault others notice and name aloud. The poem ends in honest exhaustion: explaining the problem changes nothing, because the teaching will not stay in the mind. It points the reader to watch this same gap in themselves.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
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