Abhanga 3125
Even someone who admits he has faked devotion and deceived others can still honestly ask to be counted as God's, since falsehood cannot hide from God even though it may fool people.
The verse
म्हणवितों दास न करितां सेवा । लंडपणें देवा पोट भरीं ॥१॥
खोटें कोठें सरे तुझे पायांपाशीं । अंतर जाणसी पांडुरंगा ॥ध्रु.॥
आचरण खोटें आपणासी ठावें । लटिकें बोलावें दुसरें तें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे ऐसा आहें अपराधी । असो कृपानिधी तुम्हां ठावा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Mhaṇavitōm dāsa na karitām sevā — I am called dāsa without doing sevā; laṇḍapaṇe Devā pōṭa bharīm — with laṇḍa-paṇa, Deva, (I) fill (my) belly. Khōṭe kōṭhe sare tujhe pāyāmpāśīm — falsity does not survive at your feet; antara jāṇasī Pāṇḍurangā — you know the antara, Pāṇḍurangā. Ācharaṇa khōṭe āpaṇāsī ṭhāve — false-conduct is known to myself; laṭike bōlāve dusare te — but I speak false to others. Tukā mhaṇe aisā āhe aparādhī — Tukā says: such an aparādhī am I; asō krpā-nidhī tumhām ṭhāvā — yet let (me) be known to you, krpā-nidhi.
What it means
A striking 3-verse self-confession text by Tukārām.
The unsparing-confession: I'm-called-dāsa but-don't-do-sevā; with-lazy-scoundrel-ways I-fill-belly; falsity-doesn't-survive-at-your-feet; you-know-the-inner; my-false-conduct is-known-to-myself; I-pretend-otherwise to-others. Such-an-aparādhī I-am — yet let-me-be-known-to-you, krpā-nidhi.
The closing-formula asō krpā-nidhī tumhām ṭhāvā (may-(I)-yet-be-known-to-you, treasury-of-compassion) is the canonical-bhakti-finale: despite-all-my-faults, may-I-still-be-counted-as-yours.
Compare-Tukārām's 2730 (mī-cha-vikhala extreme-humility-prayer — I-alone-defective, everyone-else-good).
For someone today
Tukārām's self-confession. I am called dāsa — but without doing sevā; like a lazy scoundrel, I fill (my) belly, Deva. Falsity does not survive at your feet, Pāṇḍurangā — you know what is within me. My false conduct is known to myself — but to others I speak false. Such an offender am I — yet let (me) be known to you, treasury of compassion. The verse offers this bhakti confession, closing with the plea to still be known to you, treasury of compassion.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्वतःची प्रामाणिक कबुली देतात. मी सेवा न करताही स्वतःला दास म्हणवतो, आणि आळशी लबाडासारखा देवा, तुझ्या नावाने पोट भरतो. पांडुरंगा, खोटेपणा तुझ्या पायांशी टिकत नाही, तू माझे अंतरंग जाणतोस. माझे खोटे वर्तन मला स्वतःला ठाऊक आहे, पण इतरांशी मी खोटेच बोलतो. तुकाराम म्हणतात, असा मी अपराधी आहे, तरीही हे कृपानिधी, मला तुझा म्हणून ओळखले जावे. अशा प्रकारे हा अभंग स्वतःच्या दोषांची कबुली देत, तरीही देवाच्या कृपेवर विश्वास ठेवण्याची भावना व्यक्त करतो.
Where this applies
- Striking self-confession-text
- Asō krpā-nidhī tumhām ṭhāvā canonical-signature
- Companion to 2730