The saints' rebuke, guard the root
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतांच्या धीकारें अमंगळ जिणें । विश्वशत्रु तेणें सांडी परि ॥1॥
कुळ आणि रूप वांयां संवसार । गेला भरतार मोकलितां ॥ध्रु.॥
मूळ राखे तया फळा काय उणें । चतुर लक्षणें राखों जाणे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सायास तो एके ठायीं । दीप हातीं तई अवघें बरें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
By the reproach of the saints, the inauspicious life and its enmity with the world are abandoned. Family, beauty, and worldly life are all in vain once the Lord is released from them. He who guards the root lacks nothing in the fruit; the discerning one knows how to preserve what matters. Says Tuka, let all effort be concentrated in one place. With a lamp in hand, everything becomes clear.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let the saints rebuke you, and the foul, hostile life is dropped. Family, beauty, the whole round of the world, all of it is wasted once you let go of the Lord. Guard the root, and the fruit will lack nothing. The wise one knows how to keep what matters. Tuka says: gather all your effort into one place. With a lamp in your hand, everything is well.
What it means
Tukaram is saying that being scolded by the saints is a gift, because their reproach is what makes a person abandon a low and quarrelsome life. He then weighs what is worth keeping: lineage, good looks, and all worldly business are thrown away the moment you lose hold of the Lord, who is the real treasure. The teaching turns on the root and the fruit; tend the source and nothing downstream falls short, and the discerning person knows to protect that source above all. So concentrate every effort in one place, on God, for with that one lamp in hand everything else becomes clear.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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