Devotion over caste, love over ritual
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मंत्रयंत्र नहिं मानत साखी । प्रेमभाव नहिं अंतर राखी ॥1॥
राम कहे त्याके पगहूं लागूं । देखत कपट अमिमान दुर भागूं ॥ध्रु.॥
अधिक याती कुलहीन नहिं ज्यानु । ज्याणे नारायन सो प्राणी मानूं ॥2॥
कहे तुका जीव तन डारू वारी । राम उपासिंहु बलियारी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He cares nothing for charms or spells; he does not keep love and bhava hidden within. I bow at the feet of one who utters Rama's name. Seeing deceit and pride, I flee far away. I make no distinction of high caste or no caste. Whoever knows Narayana, that living being I honor as truly alive. Says Tuka, I would offer up jiva and body as a sacrifice for the sake of worshipping Rama, the powerful one.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He cares nothing for charms and spells, and he keeps no test of them. He does not hide love and feeling inside him. I fall at the feet of anyone who says Rama's name. When I see deceit and pride, I run far away from it. I make no measure of high caste or no caste. Whoever knows Narayana, that one I count as a living being. Tuka says: I would throw down my life and body as a sacrifice. I am devoted with all my strength to the worship of Rama.
What it means
Tukaram is naming where worth truly lies and where it does not. Magic, spells, and shows of ritual mean nothing to him; what counts is open love and the name of Rama on the lips. He will bow at the feet of anyone, of any caste or none, who utters that name and knows Narayana, and he flees from deceit and pride wherever he meets them. The radical claim is that caste does not measure a person at all; knowing God does. He ends by offering his very life and body for the worship of Rama, holding nothing back.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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