The saints, where devotees are scorned
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतांसी तों नाहीं सन्मानाची चाड । परि पडे द्वाड अव्हेरितो ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि तया न वजावें ठाया । होतसे घात या दुर्बळाचा ॥ध्रु.॥
भावहीना आड येतसे आशंका । उचितासी चुका घालावया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जया संकोच दर्शनें । तया ठाया जाणें अनुचित ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Saints do not crave honor or respect, yet the wicked who shun them come to grief. Therefore one should not visit a place where devotees are scorned, for it brings ruin to the vulnerable. For one devoid of bhava, suspicion arises and causes one to stray from what is proper. Says Tuka, one should not go to a place where even the sight of a saint causes discomfort.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Saints do not crave honor or respect. But the scoundrel who turns them away comes to ruin. So do not go to a place where the devotees are slighted; it brings harm to the weak. In one who has no faith, suspicion creeps in and makes him stray from what is right. Tuka says: a place where even the sight of a saint causes discomfort is no place to go.
What it means
Tukaram is giving practical counsel about the company we keep. The saint loses nothing by being dishonored, since he never wanted honor in the first place; the loss falls on the one who scorns him. From this he draws a rule for the unsteady: stay away from gatherings where devotees are slighted, because the weak in faith are the ones harmed there. In such a place, doubt seeps into a person without firm devotion and quietly pulls him off the right path. So the warning is for our own protection: where the very sight of a holy person is unwelcome, our faith is in danger, and we should not go.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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