The saints' feet, the cure that heals
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अंगें अनुभव जाला मज । संतरजचरणांचा ॥1॥
सुखी जालों या सेवनें । दुःख नेणें यावरी ॥ध्रु.॥
निर्माल्याचें तुळसीदळ । विष्णुजळ चरणींचें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भावसार । करूनि फार मििश्रत ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have experienced in my own body the effect of the dust of the saints' feet. By that remedy, I have become happy; I know no sorrow after this. The tulasi leaf from the offering, the sacred water from the Lord's feet. Says Tuka, mix these with the essence of devotion, and the cure is complete.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have felt it in my own body, the touch of the dust of the saints' feet. By taking this remedy I have become well. After this I know no sorrow. Take the tulasi leaf from the offering, take the water that washed the Lord's feet. Tuka says: mix these with the essence of devotion, and the cure is complete.
What it means
Tukaram speaks of the company of the saints as a medicine he has tested on himself, not a theory. He says the dust of their feet, the tulasi from God's offering, the water poured over God's feet, taken together with real devotion, work a complete healing. The sickness he means is the sorrow of worldly life, and he reports that once cured he knows it no more. The point is that contact with the saints and with God is the only remedy that finishes the disease rather than easing it for a while.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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