Confession, no qualification but mercy
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कैसा आणूं अनुभवा । होशी ठावा कैशापरी ॥1॥
कर्मभ्रष्ट माझें मन । नेणें जप तप अनुष्ठान ।
नाहीं इंिद्रयांसि दमन । नव्हे मन एकविध॥ध्रु.॥
नेणे यातीचा आचार । नेणें भक्तीचा विचार ।
मज नाहीं संतांचा आधार । नाहीं िस्थर बुिद्ध माझी ॥2॥
न सुटे मायाजाळ । नाहीं वैराग्याचें बळ ।
न जिंकवती सबळ । काम क्रोध शरीरीं ॥3॥
आतां राख कैसें तरि । मज नुपेक्षावें हरी ।
तुझीं िब्रदें चराचरीं । तैसीं साच करीं तुका ह्मणे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
How shall I bring You into experience? How shall I know You? My mind is fallen from right conduct; it knows no chanting, austerity, or discipline. My senses are not controlled; my mind is not one-pointed. I do not know the customs of my caste. I do not know the path of devotion. I have no support from the saints; my intellect is not steady. The net of illusion will not release me. I have no strength of renunciation. The mighty forces of lust and anger in my body will not be conquered. Even so, protect me somehow, O Hari. Do not forsake me. Your pledges are proclaimed throughout creation; make them true. Says Tuka.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
How shall I bring you into my experience? In what way will you become known to me? My mind has fallen from right action; it knows no chanting, no austerity, no discipline. My senses are not controlled; my mind is not one-pointed. I do not know the conduct of my caste. I do not know the way of devotion. I have no support of the saints; my intellect is not steady. The net of illusion will not let me go. I have no strength of renunciation. The strong forces of lust and anger in my body cannot be conquered. Even so, save me somehow; do not pass me over, Hari. Your pledges are proclaimed through all that moves and is still. Tuka says: make them true.
What it means
Tukaram empties out every credential a seeker might offer and finds he has none of them: no austerity, no controlled senses, no caste observance, no steady mind, no renunciation, not even the support of the saints. The honest inventory leaves him with a single line of appeal. Having nothing of his own to bargain with, he points to God's reputation instead, the pledges to rescue that are proclaimed across all of creation. The closing demand is sharp: those promises are spoken everywhere, so now make them true on me.
Confession and Sin
Raw, unflinching accounts of personal failure, weakness, and the weight of sin.
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