Adoration, above liberation itself
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करितां या सुखा । अंतपार नाहीं लेखा ॥1॥
माथां पडती संतपाय । सुख कैवल्य तें काय ॥ध्रु.॥
ऐसा लाभ नाहीं । दुजा विचारितां कांहीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे गोड । तेथें पुरे माझें कोड॥3॥ ॥2॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
There is no end or measure to this happiness. When the feet of the saints rest upon one's head, what is the bliss of liberation compared to that? Says Tuka, there is no other gain like this, when one considers it carefully; that sweetness is where all my longing finds fulfillment.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
There is no end and no measure to this joy. When the feet of the saints come to rest on my head, what is the bliss of liberation next to that? There is no other gain like it; think it over, and you will find none. Tuka says: that sweetness is so good that there my every longing is satisfied.
What it means
Tukaram weighs the touch of the saints' feet against the highest prize the tradition offers, kaivalya, final liberation, and finds liberation the smaller thing. He calls the joy of that touch boundless and beyond counting, then dares the listener to look for anything that can match it. This is not careless talk: he is saying that the living contact of holy company outweighs even release from rebirth, because in that sweetness every want he has ever carried is already met. Where most seek liberation, Tuka says he has found something fuller and stops there.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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