Saints, the shoe stays on the foot
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ज्ञानियांचा गुरु राजा महाराव । ह्मणती ज्ञानदेव ऐसें तुह्मां ॥1॥
मज पामरा हें काय थोरपण । पायींची वाहाण पायीं बरी ॥ध्रु.॥
ब्रह्मादिक जेथें तुह्मां वोळगणे । इतर तुळणें काय पुरे॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नेणे युक्तीची ते खोलीं । ह्मणोनि ठेविली पायीं डोई ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Guru of the wise, King of kings, such is the title by which they call Dnyaneshwar. For a wretch like me, what is this greatness? A shoe belongs on the foot, and that is where it should remain. When even Brahma and the other gods attend upon you as servants, what comparison can any lesser being offer? Says Tuka, I do not know the depths of subtle reasoning; that is why I have placed my head at His feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Guru of the wise, King of kings: that is what they call Dnyaneshwar. What is such greatness to a wretch like me? A shoe belongs on the foot, and on the foot it is rightly placed. Where even Brahma and the gods wait on you as servants, what comparison can any lesser one offer? Tuka says: I do not know the depths of subtle reasoning, so I have laid my head at his feet.
What it means
Tukaram measures the distance between himself and Dnyaneshwar and refuses to flatter himself across it. Dnyaneshwar is named Guru of the wise and King of kings; against that, Tukaram calls himself a wretch and uses a homely image, a shoe belongs on the foot, to keep himself in his proper low place. When even Brahma and the gods serve such a master, no lesser being can stand beside him as an equal. Not knowing the depths of subtle reasoning, he chooses the one move he can make: he lays his head at the saint's feet.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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