Refuge, contact transforms the worthless
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां गुण दोष काय विचारिसी । मी तों आहे रासी पातकांची ॥1॥
पतितपावनासवें समागम । अपुलाला धर्म चालवीजे॥ध्रु.॥
घनघायें भेटी लोखंडपरिसा । तरी अनारिसा न पालटे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे माती कोण पुसे फुका । कस्तुरीच्या तुका समागमें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why do You weigh my merits and faults now? I am a mountain of sins. When one keeps the company of the Purifier of the Fallen, let each fulfill their own nature. Even when iron strikes the philosopher's stone with great force, the stone does not change its nature. Says Tuka, who asks about the worth of clay? Through contact with musk, even clay becomes fragrant.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why weigh my merits and faults now? I am a heap of sins. In the company of the One who saves the fallen, let each keep to its own nature. Strike iron against the touchstone with heavy blows, and still the stone will not change. Tuka says: who pays a thing for plain clay? Yet beside musk, even clay takes on the fragrance.
What it means
Tukaram tells God to stop auditing his merits and faults, because he loses that accounting; he is simply a mountain of sin. His plea rests on what each party is: God's own nature is to purify the fallen, so let each do what it is, the sinner sinning, the Savior saving. The touchstone keeps its nature however hard the iron strikes it, and that steadiness is the point: God does not change toward the worthless. The closing image carries the hope, worthless clay is bought by no one, yet mere nearness to musk makes it fragrant, so nearness to God, not the devotee's worth, is what transforms him.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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