Adoration, the saint conquers Time
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतां आवडे तो काळाचा ही काळ । समर्थाचें बाळ जेवीं समर्थ ॥1॥
परिसतां तेथें नाहीं एकविणें । मोहें न पवे सीण ऐसें राखे ॥ध्रु.॥
केले अन्याय ते सांडवी उपचारें । न देखें दुसरें नासा मूळ ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मुख्य कल्पतरुछाया । काय नाहीं दया तये ठायीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He who is loved by the saints becomes the conqueror even of Time, just as the child of a mighty one is mighty. In listening to him, there is no weariness; he guards against the suffering of attachment. He causes others to abandon their wrongdoings through loving remedy, without seeing them as something to be destroyed at the root. Says Tuka, his very presence is the shadow of the wish-fulfilling tree. What compassion is not found there?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The one the saints love conquers even Time, even death itself. He is mighty the way the child of a mighty one is mighty. Listen to him and there is no weariness; he guards you so the ache of attachment cannot reach you. He undoes your wrongs with gentle care. He does not look at you as something to be torn out by the root. Tuka says: his presence is the shade of the wish-granting tree. What kindness is not found there?
What it means
Tukaram is praising the saint by naming what nearness to him does. Because the saints love such a one, he stands above Time and death, sharing their strength the way a child shares a great parent's. To sit and listen to him is rest, not effort, and his guarding keeps the grief of attachment from touching you. The key is how he corrects: he heals a person's wrongdoing with patient care rather than condemning the person as something to be destroyed. So Tukaram calls him the shade of the kalpataru, the wish-granting tree, where every mercy is already present.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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