The saints, a feast without measure
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आमुचें जीवन हें कथाअमृत । आणिक ही संतसमागम॥1॥
सारूं एके ठायीं भोजन परवडी । स्वादरसें गोडी पदोपदीं ॥ध्रु.॥
धालिया ढेंकर येती आनंदाचे । वोसंडलें वाचे प्रेमसुख ॥2॥
पिकलें स्वरूप आलिया घुमरि । रासी ते अंबरीं न समाये ॥3॥
मोजितां तयाचा अंत नाहीं पार । खुंटला व्यापार तुका ह्मणे ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Our sustenance is the nectar of the sacred story, and beyond that, the company of the saints. We spread out the feast in one place; its delicious flavor grows sweeter at every step. When we are full, the belches of bliss arise, and the joy of love overflows from our lips. The ripened Self has come to fullness; its harvest cannot be contained in all the sky. Says Tuka, when I try to measure its end, there is no limit; all commerce ceases.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Our food is the nectar of the sacred story, and beyond that, the company of the saints. We spread the feast in one place; its flavor grows sweeter at every step. When we are full, the belches of bliss come up, and the joy of love overflows from our lips. The ripened Self has come to fullness; its harvest cannot fit in all the sky. Tuka says: when I try to measure its end, there is no end; all trade stops.
What it means
Tukaram turns devotion into a banquet and rides the image as far as it will go. The food is the nectar of God's story, and the company of the saints is the rest of the meal; the more they eat, the sweeter it gets. When they are satisfied, what rises is not an ordinary belch but bliss, and love spills out in their speech. He then breaks the figure open: the Self has ripened into a harvest too large for the whole sky to hold. Trying to measure where it ends, he finds no end at all, and at that point all calculation and bargaining simply stop. The point is that the joy of holy company is literally beyond accounting.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
More in this theme →