The saints' grace, made whole
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतीं केला अंगीकार । त्यासी अभिमान थोर ॥1॥
कांहीं ठेविलें चरणीं । घेतीं तें चि पुरवूनि ।
तुका पायवणी । घेऊनियां निराळा ॥ध्रु.॥
नसतां कांहीं संचित । भेटी जाली अवचित ॥2॥
देव मिळोनियां भक्त । तुका केलासे सनाथ ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The saints have accepted me, and great is their grace in doing so. Whatever was placed at their feet, they took and fulfilled in abundance. Says Tuka, I received the washing water of their feet and was set free. Though I had no store of merit, this meeting came to me unannounced. God and his devotees together have made Tuka whole.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The saints have accepted me, and great is the grace in that. Whatever I laid at their feet, they took it and gave it back many times over. Tuka says: I took the washing water of their feet and was set apart, set free. I had no store of merit, yet this meeting came to me out of nowhere. God and his devotees together have made Tuka whole.
What it means
Tukaram credits everything to the saints who took him in. Whatever little he placed at their feet, they returned to him in abundance, and the water that washed their feet was enough to set him free. He insists he had earned none of this; the meeting came unbidden, by grace and not by merit. The closing line joins God and his devotees as one giving power: between them they made a homeless man, Tuka, into someone who has a Lord and belongs.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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