The saint, generous and unbroken
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उपकारी असे आरोणि उरला । आपुलें तयाला पर नाहीं ॥1॥
लाभावरि घ्यावें सांपडलें काम । आपला तो श्रम न विचारी ॥ध्रु.॥
जीवा ऐसें देखे आणिकां जीवांसी । निखळ चि रासि गुणांची च ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देव तयांचा पांगिला । न भंगे संचला धीर सदा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The truly generous one has given everything and still remains full. He sees nothing as his own or as another's. He seizes whatever beneficial work comes to hand and does not consider his own labor. He sees all other jivas as he sees his own jiva: a pure treasury of virtues alone. Says Tuka, God Himself is devoted to such a one, whose steadfast courage never breaks.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The truly generous one has given everything away and is still full. To him nothing is his own, and nothing is another's. Whatever good work falls to his hand, he takes it up; he does not weigh his own labor. He sees every other living being just as he sees his own life: a pure heap of virtues, nothing else. Tuka says: God Himself is bound to such a one, whose gathered courage never breaks.
What it means
Tukaram describes the mark of a real saint by the way he holds self and others. He gives without depleting, because he has dropped the line between mine and yours, so giving costs him nothing. He takes up whatever good work comes without calculating his own effort, and he looks at every other person as he looks at his own life, seeing only a treasury of virtue. The closing claim names the stakes: God becomes indebted, even devoted, to a person whose steadiness never cracks. It is a portrait offered for the listener's own self-measurement.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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