Confession, kept far by want of devotion
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय कृपेविण घालावें सांकडें । नििंश्चती निवाडें कोण्या एका ॥1॥
आहों तैसीं पुढें असों दीनपणें । वेचूनि वचनें करुणेचीं ॥ध्रु.॥
धरूं भय आतां काय वाहों चिंता । काय करूं आतां आप्तपण ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मी भावहीन जीव । ह्मणउनी देव दुरे दुरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Without Your grace, what pressure can I bring? Let there be a final verdict, one way or another. Let me remain as I am, in all my lowliness, expending words of compassion. Should I carry fear now? Should I bear worry? What use now is claiming kinship? Says Tuka, we are jivas devoid of devotion. That is why God stays far, far away.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Without Your grace, what pressure can I bring? Let there be a final verdict, one way or the other. Let me stay as I am, in all my lowliness, spending words of pleading. Should I hold fear now? Should I carry worry? What use is it now to claim kinship with You? Tuka says: we are souls empty of devotion. That is why God stays far, far away.
What it means
Tukaram asks for a final answer and then sits down to wait in his own poverty. He sees that he has no leverage over God except grace itself, so he keeps spending the only thing he has, words of longing. He sets down fear, worry, and even the easy claim of being God's relative, since none of these can move God. The last line turns the gaze back on himself: God seems far away not because God is cold but because the soul is empty of real devotion. The honesty is the point, not the despair.
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