Praise of the saints, the unseen made seen
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
रवि दीप हीरा दाविती देखणे । अदृश्य दर्षने संतांचे नी ॥1॥
त्यांचा महिमा काय वणूप मी पामर । न कळे तो साचार ब्रह्मादिकां ॥ध्रु.॥
तापली चंदन निववितो कुडी । त्रिगुण तो काढी संतसंग ॥2॥
मायबापें पिंड पाळीला माया । जन्ममरण जाया संतसंग ॥3॥
संतांचें वचन वारी जन्मदुःख । मिष्टान्न तें भूकनिवारण ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे जवळी न पाचारितां जावें । संतचरणीं भावें रिघावया ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The sun, the lamp, and the diamond reveal what is visible, but the darshan of the saints reveals what is invisible. How can I, a lowly one, describe their greatness? Even Brahma and the other gods cannot fully know it. As sandalwood cools the heated body, the company of saints removes the three gunas. Parents nourish the body with love, but the company of saints ends birth and death. The words of the saints relieve the suffering of birth, just as fine food satisfies hunger. Says Tuka, one should go to the saints' feet without even being called, surrendering there with devotion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The sun, the lamp, and the diamond show what can be seen, but the darshan of the saints shows what cannot be seen. How can I, a lowly one, describe their greatness? Even Brahma and the other gods do not truly know it. As sandalwood cools a body that burns, the company of saints draws out the three gunas. Parents nourish the body with love, but the company of saints ends birth and death. The words of the saints relieve the suffering of birth, the way good food satisfies hunger. Tuka says: one should go to the saints' feet without even being called, and take refuge there with devotion.
What it means
Tukaram raises the company of saints above every ordinary light: the sun, lamp, and diamond reveal only visible things, but the saints reveal the invisible Reality. He confesses their greatness is beyond his power to describe, beyond even Brahma's full knowing. Through plain images he names what their company actually does: it cools the burning soul like sandalwood, draws out the three gunas, and unlike parents who feed only the body, it ends the whole cycle of birth and death. The conclusion is a directive to himself and the listener, go to the saints uninvited and surrender at their feet, because that refuge is where liberation is found.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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