The saints, caste does not measure worth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कस्तुरी भिनली जये मृित्तके । तयेसी आणिके कैसी सरी ॥1॥
लोखंडाचे अंगीं लागला परिस । तया आणिकास कैसी सरी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मी न वजें यातीवरी । पूज्यमान करीं वैष्णवांसी ॥ ।3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When musk has soaked into a lump of earth, how can any other clay compare with it? When the philosopher's stone has touched iron, how can any other substance match it? Says Tuka, I do not judge by caste; I hold the Vaishnavas worthy of worship.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When musk has soaked into a lump of earth, what other clay can equal it? When the philosopher's stone has touched iron, what other metal can equal it? Tuka says: I do not go by birth or caste. I hold the Vaishnavas worthy of worship.
What it means
Tukaram answers the question of who deserves honor with two images of transformation. Plain earth that has absorbed musk is no longer common earth; iron that the touchstone has touched is no longer base metal. What changes their worth is not their origin but what has entered them. He applies this directly: he will not rank a person by the caste they were born into. The devotee in whom the love of God has soaked is the one he treats as worthy of worship, whatever their birth. The claim is deliberately leveling, and he names it openly.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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