God the physician, paid in love
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वैद्य एक पंढरिराव । अंतर्भाव तो जाणे ॥1॥
रोगाऐशा द्याव्या वल्ली । जाणे जाली बाधा ते ॥ध्रु.॥
नेदी रुका वेचों मोल । पोहे बोल प्रीतीचे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दयावंता । सदा चिंता दीनांची ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The only true physician is the Lord of Pandhari; He alone knows the inner condition. He prescribes the right remedy for each ailment, knowing exactly where the affliction lies. He does not charge even a coin; His currency is words of love. Says Tuka, that compassionate One always carries the poor in His thoughts.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
There is only one true physician, the Lord of Pandhari. He alone knows the inner condition. He gives the right herb for each disease, for he knows exactly where the harm lies. He charges no coin, asks no fee; his only payment is words of love. Tuka says: that compassionate one always carries the poor in his thoughts.
What it means
Tukaram pictures Panduranga as the one doctor who diagnoses what no other can see, the affliction hidden inside a person. Because he reads the inner condition exactly, the remedy he gives always fits. The stakes are that no human healer can reach this sickness; only God can. And his price is not money but love, freely given, because he is forever turned toward the helpless and the poor.
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