Self-surrender, rolling at the saints' feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पवित्र व्हावया घालीन लोळणी । ठेवीन चरणीं मस्तक हें ॥1॥
जोडोनि हस्तक करीन विनवणी । घेइन पायवणी धोवोनियां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माझें भांडवल सुचें । संतां हें ठायींचें ठावें आहे ॥3॥ ॥11॥
पत्राचे अभंग समाप्त । 36 । 19 । 11 ॥ 66॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
To become pure, I will roll in the dust at their feet and place my head upon their holy feet. With folded hands I will make my plea and wash their feet with devotion. Says Tuka, the saints already know my true capital, simple as it is.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
To become pure I will roll in the dust at their feet and lay this head of mine upon their feet. With folded hands I will make my plea, and I will wash their feet and drink that water. Tuka says: the saints already know my capital, plain as it is, from the start.
What it means
Tukaram makes purification a bodily act of lowering, not a private rite. He rolls in the dust where the saints walk, sets his head on their feet, folds his hands, washes their feet and takes that water as something holy. The point of the last line is his poverty: he comes with no wealth to offer, and he says so plainly, because the saints have always known the smallness of his store. He hides nothing, and that nakedness is itself the offering. He trusts that those who already see his emptiness are the safe ones to surrender to.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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