Adoration, the saints' company
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जेथें लक्ष्मीचा वास । गंगा आली पापा नास ॥1॥
तें म्यां हृदयीं धरिलें । तापें हरण पाउलें ॥ध्रु.॥
सेवा केली संतजनीं। सुखें राहिले लपोनि ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे वांकी । भाट जाली तिहीं लोकीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Where Lakshmi dwells, there the Ganga comes to destroy sins. I have held that in my heart, and my afflictions have been relieved. The saints have served, and joys have remained hidden within them. Says Tuka, the path has been cleared across all three worlds.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Where Lakshmi dwells, the Ganga comes and washes sins away. I have held that in my heart, and his feet take my burning away. The saints have served, and they rest hidden in their joy. Tuka says: the road has been opened across all three worlds.
What it means
Tukaram is praising the feet of God as the place where every grace gathers. He names two great gifts, Lakshmi's wealth and the Ganga's washing of sin, and says both meet at those feet, which is what he keeps in his heart; once he holds them, the fever of his suffering is lifted. The saints have done their part by serving God, and they live quietly inside the joy that service brought them. The last line widens the claim: the path they cleared is open now in all three worlds, so the way home is no longer hidden from anyone.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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