Confession, the unworthy servant
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ऐसें काय उणें जालें तुज देवा । भावेंविण सेवा घेसी माझी ॥1॥
काय मज द्यावा न लगे मुशारा । पहावें दातारा विचारूनि ॥ध्रु.॥
करितों पाखांडें जोडूनि अक्षरें । नव्हे ज्ञान खरें भक्तिरस ॥2॥
गुणवाद तुझे न बोलवे वाणी । आणिका छळणी वाद सांगें ॥3॥
तरी आतां मज राखें तुझे पायीं । देखसील कांहीं प्रेमरस ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे तुज हांसतील लोक । निःकाम सेवक ह्मणोनियां ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What is it that You lack, O God, that You will not accept my service without true devotion? Must I be paid wages? Consider this, O generous Lord. I compose verses by stringing together syllables in artifice; it is not genuine wisdom or the nectar of devotion. My tongue cannot truly sing Your praises; I only know how to argue and wrangle with others. Even so, keep me at Your feet. Perhaps You will find some trace of love there. Says Tuka, people will laugh at You, calling me Your selfless servant when I am no such thing.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What do You lack, O God, that You will not take my service unless it has real love in it? Must I be paid wages? Look closely and consider, O generous Lord. I make a sham, stringing syllables together; it is not real wisdom, not the nectar of devotion. My tongue cannot truly sing Your goodness; I only know how to argue and wrangle with others. Even so, now keep me at Your feet; perhaps there You will find some trace of love. Tuka says: people will laugh at You for calling me a selfless servant.
What it means
Tukaram confesses the hollowness of his own service even as he clings to God. He asks why God, who lacks nothing, should refuse service that has no genuine love behind it, and whether he must somehow be paid for it. He admits his verses are clever artifice, not true wisdom or devotion, and that his tongue is better at quarreling than at praise. Yet he still begs to be kept at God's feet, hoping that nearness alone might grow some real love in him. The closing turn is self-mocking: if God claims him as a selfless servant, even the world will laugh at the claim.
Confession and Sin
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