Confession and Sin

जेविले ते संत मागें उष्टावळी । अवघ्या पत्रावळी करुनी झाडा ॥१॥

The saints have eaten and gone; I remain behind with the scraps and the leaf-plates to clean. I have stayed apart from a…

नेणें गाणें कंठ नाहीं हा सुस्वर । घालूं तुज भार पांडुरंगा ॥१॥

I do not know how to sing, and my voice is not sweet. I place the whole burden upon You, O Panduranga. I do not know rag…

नव्हतों सावचित । तेणें अंतरलें हित ॥१॥

I was not vigilant, and so my own welfare slipped away. I forgot the Name, and worldly life kept growing. Carried far aw…

कां होती कां होती । देवा एवढी फजीती ॥१॥

O God, why was there such disgrace? In my heart I know that I was at fault from the very root. What was destined to happ…

अगोचरी बोलिलों आज्ञेविण आगळें । परी तें आतां न संडावें राउळें ॥१॥

I have spoken boldly, going beyond what was permitted. Yet do not cast me out of your temple for it, O Lord. Without you…

गातों भाव नाहीं अंगीं । भूषण करावया जगीं ॥१॥

I sing, yet there is no true devotion in my being; I do it merely to adorn myself before the world. But you are the Rede…

मी तंव अनाथ अपराधी । कर्महीन मतिमंदबुद्धी । तुज म्यां आठविलें नाहीं कधीं । वाचे …

I am helpless and full of offenses, devoid of good deeds, dull of mind and intellect. I have never once remembered You i…

अल्प भाव अल्प मती । अल्प आयुष्य नाहीं हातीं । अपराधाची वोिळलों मूर्ती । अहो वेदम…

My devotion is slight, my intellect is slight, my lifespan is short and not in my hands. I am an embodiment of offenses.…

माझा तंव खुंटला उपाव । जेणें तुझे आतुडती पाव । करूं भिH तरि नाहीं भाव । नाहीं हा…

My remedies are exhausted; I have no means to reach Your feet. To practice devotion I lack true feeling; I have no contr…

देवा मी चांडाळ चांडाळ । ह्मणतां लागताहे वेळ । नसे पाहातां भूमंडळ । ऐसा अमंगळ खळ …

O God, even to call myself a wretch takes a long time, for there is no one in all the earth as inauspicious and vile as …

मी तों सर्वभावें अनधिकारी । होइल कैसी परी नेणों देवा ॥1॥

I am utterly unqualified in every way. I do not know what will become of me, O God. When I bring the meanings of the scr…

दंभें कीतिऩ पोट भरे मानी जन । स्वहित कारण नव्हे कांहीं ॥1॥

Through pretense one may fill the belly and win the world's respect, but none of it serves one's true welfare. Your feet…

बळें बाहएात्कारें संपादिलें सोंग । नाहीं जाला त्याग अंतरींचा ॥1॥

By great effort and outward force I have fashioned a show of renunciation, but the inner letting go has not truly happen…

ह्मणवितों दास ते नाहीं करणी । आंत वरी दोन्ही भिन्न भाव ॥1॥

I call myself a servant, but the conduct does not match. Inside and outside are two different things, with separate feel…

वदे वाणी परि दुर्लभ अनुभव । चालीचा चि वाहो बहुतेक ॥1॥

The tongue speaks, but true experience is rare. Most of it is just the flow of habit. How can I remain steady when time …

काय कृपेविण घालावें सांकडें । नििंश्चती निवाडें कोण्या एका ॥1॥

Without Your grace, what pressure can I bring? Let there be a final verdict, one way or another. Let me remain as I am, …

काय आतां आह्मीं पोट चि भरावें । जग चाळवावें भH ह्मुण ॥1॥

Should I now just fill my belly and deceive the world by calling myself a devotee? If so, then tell me plainly, for I am…

चतुर मी जालों आपुल्या भोंवता । भावेंविण रिता काुंफ्ज अंगीं ॥1॥

I have become clever only around my own self, yet my body is empty of true devotion. What use is going forward in vain w…

वांयांविण वाढविला हा लौकिक । आणिला लटिक वाद दोघां ॥1॥

I have built up this worldly reputation for nothing and brought a false quarrel upon us both. God has not become real to…

वांयां जातों देवा । नेणें भHी करूं सेवा ॥1॥

I am going to waste, O God. I know not how to worship or serve. Now I simply stand with folded hands, quiet and still. W…

जन मानविलें वरी बाहएात्कारीं । तैसा मी अंतरीं नाहीं जालों ॥1॥

I have pleased the world through outward show, but inwardly I have not truly changed. Therefore, O Lord of Pandhari, wor…

काम क्रोध माझे जीताती शरीरीं । कोवळें तें वरी बोलतसें ॥1॥

Lust and anger are alive in my body. I speak tender words only on the surface. How have I come to be counted at Your fee…

स्तुति करीं जैसा नाहीं अधिकार । न कळे विचार योग्यतेचा ॥1॥

I offer praise for which I have no authority. I do not understand the measure of my own worthiness. I am Your feeble ser…

जळो माझें कर्म वायां केली कटकट । जालें तैसें तंट नाहीं आलें अनुभवा ॥1॥

Let my deeds burn, for all the fuss I made was in vain. Nothing I argued about ever came to fruition through experience.…

लाज वाटे मज मानिती हे लोक । हें तों नाहीं एक माझे अंगी ॥1॥

I feel ashamed that people honor me, for I possess none of the qualities they suppose. I have been worn thin like a meas…

वटवट केली । न विचारितां मना आली ॥1॥

I have blurted out whatever came to mind without thinking. Forgive me for all of it, O Purushottama; I know no better. I…

सांगतों या मना तें माझें नाइके । घातावरी टेंके चांडाळ हें ॥1॥

I counsel this mind of mine, but it does not listen; the wretch keeps rushing toward ruin. Therefore I watch whether it …

अधिक कोंडितां चरफडी । भलतीकडे घाली उडी॥1॥

The more one tries to restrain this mind, the more it thrashes and leaps in every direction. What shall I do with this m…

अनुभवें कळों येतें पांडुरंगा । रुसावें तें कां गा तुह्मांवरी ॥1॥

Experience teaches me, O Panduranga, that I should not be angry with You. When I try to restrain my mind, it refuses to …

पायांच्या प्रसादें । कांहीं बोलिलों विनोदें ॥1॥

By the grace of Your feet I have spoken a few words in jest. Let the saints forgive me; this skill is not my own. This i…

कृपावंता कोप न धरावा चित्तीं । छळूं वक्रोHी स्तुती करूं ॥1॥

O merciful one, do not hold anger in Your heart; whether I praise or provoke You, I am only offering worship. I do not t…

जन पूजी याचा मज कां आभार । हा तुह्मी विचार जाणां देवा ॥1॥

People honor me, but why should I bear the credit? You know this well, O God. No one respects the letter itself; they ho…

संत मानितील मज । तेणें वाटतसे लाज ॥1॥

When saints honor me, I feel ashamed. You have not truly bestowed Your grace upon me; my own heart bears witness. I am t…

नाहीं तुह्मी केला । अंगीकार तो विठ्ठला ॥1॥

You have not truly accepted me, O Vitthal. One cannot reach the shore on a broken raft of pretense. There is no real lov…

कैंचा मज धीर । कोठें बुिद्ध माझी िस्थर ॥1॥

Where is my patience? Where is the steadiness of my intellect? I try to restrain this mind, to hold some space within. W…

बहु दिस नाहीं माहेरिंची भेटी । जाली होती तुटी व्यवसायें ॥1॥

For many days I had no meeting with my true home; the connection was broken by worldly occupations. I was absorbed in my…

होतीं नेणों जालीं कठिणें कठीण । जवळी च मन मनें ग्वाही ॥1॥

Something has hardened, grown more rigid; the heart knows its own truth. We abandoned the path we were on, and from that…

कांहीं बोलिलों बोबडें । मायबापा तुह्मांपुढें । सलगी लाडें कोडें । मज क्षमा करावी…

I have spoken some stammering words before You, O Mother and Father. Forgive my bold and childish familiarity. How could…

तुका ह्मणे मी भांडवलें पुरता । तुजसी पंढरिनाथा लावियेलें ॥4॥ ॥1॥

Says Tuka, I have sufficient capital of my own failings; I have invested it all with You, O Lord of Pandhari.

काय जाणों वेद । आह्मी आगमाचे भेद ॥1॥

What do I know of the Vedas? I am ignorant of scriptural subtleties. I simply hold Your one form in my mind and remain a…

मागें जैसा होता माझे अंगीं भाव । तैसा एक ठाव नाहीं आतां ॥1॥

The devotion I once felt in my being is no longer there as it was. My own mind bears witness: I see loss of the very pri…

लाज वाटे पुढें तोंड दाखवितां । परि जाऊं आतां कोणापाशी ॥1॥

I am ashamed to show my face, yet where else shall I go? Having failed in my duty, I ask for wages; I, the shameless wre…

भला ह्मणे जन । परि नाहीं समाधान ॥1॥

People call me good, but I have no inner peace. My heart churns with unrest; true welfare seems to have slipped away. Th…

शिकविले बोल । बोलें तैसी नाहीं ओल ॥1॥

I speak the words I have been taught, but there is no corresponding depth within. Now, O God, there is no doubt: I have …

पोटीं शूळ अंगीं उटी चंदनाची । आवडी सुखाची कोण तया ॥1॥

A boil on the belly and sandalwood paste on the body; what pleasure can such a person enjoy? O Lord of Pandhari, why hav…

बेगडाचा रंग राहे कोण काळ । अंगें हें पितळ न देखतां ॥1॥

How long can the color of gilding last when the brass underneath goes unseen? My own mind is right here beside me, yet I…

मजपुढें नाहीं आणीक बोलता । ऐसें कांहीं चित्ता वाटतसें ॥1॥

It seems to me that no one else speaks before me. Please find some remedy for this, O all-generous Panduranga. Lust and …

हागतां ही खोडी । चळण मोडवितें काडी ॥1॥

Even while relieving oneself, bad habits persist; the stick keeps breaking the ankle. Such are these uncontrollable tend…

तुका ह्मणे देवा । तुमची न घडे चि सेवा ॥3॥ ॥1॥

Says Tuka, O God, true service to You simply does not come to pass.

देह निरसे तरी । बोलावया नुरे उरी ॥1॥

If the body is transcended, nothing remains to be spoken. All else is mere verbal ornamentation, words for the sake of d…

खोटएाचा विकरा । येथें नव्हे कांच हिरा ॥1॥

There is no sale for the false here; glass cannot pass for diamond. What is the point of showing off and increasing toil…

काय करूं जी दातारा । कांहीं न पुरे संसारा ॥1॥

O generous Lord, what shall I do? Nothing ever suffices for this worldly life. I have become like a monkey, going up and…

करूं कवि काय आतां नाही लाज । मज भHराज हांसतील ॥1॥

What poetry can I compose now? I have lost all shame. The great devotees will laugh at me. The day of reckoning has arri…

स्तुती तरि करूं काय कोणापासीं । कीर्त तरि कैसी वाखाणावी ॥1॥

Whom shall I praise, and how shall I glorify Your fame? For what is false, there is no need for commentary; whatever del…

नव्हें दास खरा । परि जाला हा डांगोरा ॥1॥

I am not a true servant, yet this proclamation has been made. What can be done about it now? You know everything. I have…

कां जी माझे जीवीं । आळस ठेविला गोसावीं ॥1॥

Why, O Lord, have You placed laziness in my soul? What greater harm could there be? It obstructs my contemplation of You…

इंिद्रयांचीं दिनें । आह्मी केलों नारायणें ॥1॥

Narayana made me a slave of the senses. That is why I endure such suffering. To whom can I even tell my plight? I have n…

हातीं धरूं जावें । तेणें परतें चि व्हावें ॥1॥

Whatever I reach for slips away from my hand. What wretched fate is this, the lot of the ill-fortuned? I belong neither …

तुज पाहावें हे धरितों वासना । परि आचरणा नाहीं ठाव ॥1॥

I hold the desire to behold You, but my conduct falls short of deserving it. If You take up my cause by Your own authori…

दुष्ट आचरण ग्वाही माझें मन । मज ठावे गुण दोष माझे ॥1॥

My conduct has been flawed; my own mind is the witness. I know my own virtues and faults. Now You are the all-knowing on…

मी च विखळ मी च विखळ । येर सकळ बहु बरें॥1॥

I alone am impure, I alone am impure; everything else is perfectly fine. I ask for forgiveness; this is my humble plea. …

पापा नाहीं पार दुःखाचे डोंगर । जालों ये भूमीसी ओझें ॥1॥

My sins are beyond measure, mountains of sorrow. I have become a burden upon this earth. How much disgrace shall I recou…

हीन माझी याति । वरी स्तुती केली संतीं ॥1॥

My caste is lowly, yet the saints have praised me. Now pride seeks to enter my being and rob me of everything. The thoug…

पापाची मी राशी । सेवाचोर पायांपाशीं ॥1॥

I am a heap of sin, a thief of devotion lingering at Your feet. Punish me, O Narayana, and break the willfulness of my m…

लोक ह्मणती मज देव । हा तों अधर्म उपाव ॥1॥

People call me a god; that is a sinful notion. Now do whatever You know to be right; the blade is in Your hand. I have n…

मज माझा उपदेश । आणिकां नये याचा रीस ॥1॥

My own teaching is meant for myself; let no one else be vexed by it. You are all forms of Panduranga; I alone am the wic…

पंचभूतांचिये सांपडलों संदीं । घातलोंसे बंदीं अहंकारें॥1॥

I am caught in the trap of the five elements, imprisoned by my own ego. I have tied the noose around my own neck, not re…

ह्मणवितों दास न करितां सेवा । लंडपणें देवा पोट भरीं ॥1॥

I call myself a servant but do no real service; I fill my belly through sheer idleness in Your name. Falsehood has no pl…

आह्मी पापी तूं पावन । हें तों पूर्वापार जाण ॥1॥

We are sinners and You are the purifier; this has been so from the very beginning. Do not try to make something new of w…

स्मरणाचे वेळे । व्हावें सावध न कळे ॥1॥

At the moment of remembrance, one should be alert, yet I do not know how. I have fallen into the pull of sense-pleasures…

पेणावलें ढोर मार खाय पाठी । बैसलें तें नुठी तेथूनियां ॥1॥

Like a stubborn animal beaten upon its back that will not rise from where it sits, just so has my mind become, O God. I …

नव्हें परि ह्मणवीं दास । कांहीं निमित्तास मूळ केलें॥1॥

I am not worthy, yet I call myself Your servant; I have at least made a beginning with some pretext. What then is Your d…

नो बोलावें ऐसें जनासी उत्तर । करितों विचार बहु वेळा ॥1॥

I resolve many times over not to give such harsh answers to people. What sin stands in the way, appearing before me and …

मज नष्टा माया मोह नाहीं लोभ । अधिक हो क्षोभ आदराचा ॥1॥

Wretched that I am, I have no attachment, no greed, no covetousness, yet my eagerness is excessive. Cursed is this ungra…

भांडवल माझें लटिक्याचे गांठी । उदीम तो तुटी यावी हा चि ॥1॥

My capital is tied up in falsehood; this trade is bound to end in loss. With what face shall I look for You, cycling thr…

माझे तों स्वभाव मज अनावर । तुज ही देतां भार कांहीं नव्हे ॥1॥

My own nature is beyond my control, yet for You, O Lord, bearing this burden is nothing. This much I have understood, O …

कैचें भांडवल खरा हातीं भाव । कळवऑयानें माव दावीतसें ॥1॥

What capital do I have? My genuine feeling is all I hold, and even that true intention gets masked by pretense. Now, O a…

आतां मी पतित ऐसा साच भावें । कळों अनुभवें आलें देवा ॥1॥

Now I have come to know through experience that I am truly fallen, O Lord. Whatever You would do, do it now and openly; …

नये ऐसें बोलों कठिण उत्तरें । सलगी लेंकुरें केली पुढें ॥1॥

I should not speak such harsh words, for the child has taken liberties before its parent. Forgive whatever offenses have…

काय करूं मज नागविलें आळसें । बहुत या सोसें पीडा केली ॥1॥

What can I do? Laziness has stripped me bare, and this indolence has caused me great torment. It has snatched the very u…

न कळे जी भHी काय करूं सेवा । संकोचोनि देवा राहिलोंसे ॥1॥

I do not know what devotion is or how to serve You, O Lord, and so I have withdrawn in hesitation. With folded hands I r…

एकविध वृित्त न राहे अंतरीं । स्मरणीं च हरी विस्मृति ॥1॥

A single-pointed state does not remain within; even while remembering Hari, forgetfulness sets in. What a strange experi…

केवढा तो अहंकार । माझा तुह्मां नव्हे दूर ॥1॥

How great is this ego of mine, which keeps me far from You. Now who will fall at Your feet, O Pandhariraya? Why are You …

शिकल्या शब्दाचें उत्पादितों Yाान । दरपणींचें धन उपर वाया ॥1॥

I produce knowledge from learned words, but it is like wealth seen in a mirror, useless in reality. When will experience…

स्वप्नींच्या सुखें नाहीं होत राजा । तैसा दिसे माझा अनुभव ॥1॥

The happiness of dreams does not make one a king, and so it is with my experience. Why adorn the tongue with ornaments w…

काळावरी सत्ता । ऐशा करितो वारता ॥1॥

He speaks of having authority over even death itself. Yet I should be cast aside as lower than the lowest. I was trustin…

सोंवळा होऊं तों वोंवळें जडलें । सांडीमांडी बोलतोंडीं बीजीं ॥1॥

Before I could become pure, impurity clung to me. In every attempt to set things right, new seeds of confusion are sown.…

कळों आला भाव माझा मज देवा । वांयांविण जीवा आठविलें ॥1॥

My true state has become clear to me, O God. I have been calling upon You in vain. Stringing words together, I have beat…

बोल नाहीं तुझ्या दातृत्वपणासी । आह्मी अविश्वासी सर्वभावें ॥1॥

There is no fault in Your generosity. It is I who lack faith in every way. My devotion is a pretense performed for show …

आतां मी अनन्य येथें अधिकारी । होइन कोणे परी नेणें देवा ॥1॥

Now, how shall I become a devoted one, worthy of this path? I do not know, O God. When I hear the meaning of the scriptu…

 तुज दिला देह । आजूनि वागवितों भय ॥1॥

I surrendered this body to You, yet I still carry fear within. When I see the extent of this betrayal of trust, I recogn…

 कळे परि न सुटे गांठी । जालें पोटीं कुपथ्य ॥1॥

One understands, yet the inner knot does not loosen; the wrong diet has already entered the belly. The ego's dowry holds…

 भय नाहीं भेव । अनुतापीं नव्हतां जीव ॥1॥

There is no fear or dread when the soul burns with remorse. Where the heart yearns for God, what impurity can remain? Th…

 किती एका दिसीं । बुिद्ध जाली होती ऐसी ॥1॥

On how many days has the thought arisen: I should do something for my own spiritual good? Yet the right moment never com…

आजि शिवला मांग । माझें विटाळलें आंग ॥1॥

Today an untouchable has touched me; my body has been polluted. For this I shall take atonement by chanting Vitthal, Vit…

संतजना माझी यावया करुणा । ह्मणउनी दीन हीन जालों ॥1॥

I have become poor and lowly so that the saintly ones may show me compassion. I know no yoga, no technique, no wisdom, n…

ऐसें काय उणें जालें तुज देवा । भावेंविण सेवा घेसी माझी ॥1॥

What is it that You lack, O God, that You will not accept my service without true devotion? Must I be paid wages? Consid…

कैसा आणूं अनुभवा । होशी ठावा कैशापरी ॥1॥

How shall I bring You into experience? How shall I know You? My mind is fallen from right conduct; it knows no chanting,…