The saints, the one true service
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करणें तें देवा । हे चि एक पावे सेवा ॥१॥
अवघें घडे येणे सांग । भक्त देवाचें तें अंग ॥ध्रु.॥
हें चि एक वर्म । काय बोलिला तो धर्म ॥२॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The one service that truly reaches God is this: serve his devotees, for the devotee is God's own body, and through this alone everything is accomplished. Says Tuka, this is the essential secret; this is what all scriptures call dharma.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
There is one thing to do for God; only this reaches him as service. Through it everything gets done. Serve his devotees, for the devotee is God's own body. This is the one secret. This is what dharma always said. Tuka says: this is the heart of it all.
What it means
Tukaram collapses all of religion into a single act and tells you why it works. The one service that reaches God is to serve his devotees, because the devotee is not separate from God but is God's own body. So when you honor the bhakta you are touching God directly, and through this alone everything else gets accomplished. Tukaram does not present this as one practice among many; he calls it the single secret, and he says this is what dharma was pointing at all along.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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