Saints, serving the saint is serving God
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सकळ पूजा स्तुति । करावी ते व्होवें याती ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि वारा जन । संतपूजा नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
सेवावें तें वरी । दावी उमटूनि ढेंकरीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सुरा । दुधा ह्मणतां केवीं बरा॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
All worship and praise should be offered appropriately, with the right intention. Therefore, know this, O people: worshipping the saints is worshipping Narayana. What is truly consumed within reveals itself in a satisfied belch. Says Tuka, calling liquor by the name of milk does not make it wholesome.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
All worship and praise should be offered in the right way, with the right intent. So know this, people: to worship the saints is to worship Narayana. What is truly taken in shows itself afterward in a satisfied belch. Tuka says: calling liquor by the name of milk does not make it good for you.
What it means
Tukaram is teaching where reverence should land and insisting it be real, not just correctly performed. His central claim is direct: honoring the saints is the same act as honoring God, so devotion to holy people is not a detour from devotion to Narayana. Then he turns to test sincerity with two earthy images. Real nourishment announces itself, the way a good meal shows up later as a contented belch, so genuine inner devotion will reveal itself in its fruits. And the warning that liquor renamed milk is still liquor points at self-deception: putting a holy label on a harmful thing changes the name, not the thing, and we should examine what we are actually consuming.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
More in this theme →