Joy, bathing in the saints' dust
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
गंगा आली आम्हांवरि । संतपाउलें साजिरीं ॥1॥
तेथें करीन मी अंघोळी । उडे चरणरजधुळी । येती तीर्थावळी । पर्वकाळ सकळ ॥ध्रु.॥
पाप पळालें जळालें । भवदुःख दुरावलें॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धन्य जालों । सप्तसागरांत न्हालों ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The Ganga has come flowing over us in the beautiful footsteps of the saints. I shall bathe where the dust of their feet rises; all sacred waters and holy seasons gather there. Sin has fled and been burned away; the sorrow of worldly existence has departed. Says Tuka, I am blessed; I have bathed in the seven oceans.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The Ganga has come over us in the lovely footsteps of the saints. There I will bathe, where the dust of their feet flies up; there all the holy waters gather, all the sacred seasons. Sin has fled and burned away; the sorrow of worldly life has gone far off. Tuka says: I am blessed; I have bathed in the seven seas.
What it means
Tukaram treats the arrival of the saints as a pilgrimage coming to him. Where their feet step, he says the Ganga itself flows, and the dust raised by their walking is the holy water he will bathe in; every sacred river and auspicious day is present there. The fruit of that bath is immediate, that sin is burned off and the grief of worldly existence is driven far away. He ends in plain gladness, counting himself blessed as one who has bathed in all seven oceans, simply by being where the saints have walked.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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