The saints, company that purifies
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वैराग्याचें भाग्य । संतसंग हा चि लाग ॥1॥
संतकृपेचे हे दीप । करी साधका निष्पाप ॥ध्रु.॥
तो चि देवभक्त । भेदाभेद नाहीं ज्यांत ॥2॥
तुका प्रेमें नाचे गाये । गाणियांत विरोन जाये ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The fortune of dispassion is found in the company of saints alone. The lamp of the saints' grace purifies the seeker of all sin. A true devotee of God is one in whom no sense of division or separation remains. Says Tuka, he sings and dances with love, losing himself entirely in the song.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The fortune of dispassion is found only in the company of saints; that is the way to it. The lamp of the saints' grace makes the seeker free of sin. He alone is a true devotee of God in whom no sense of division is left. Tuka says: he dances and sings with love, and melts away into the song.
What it means
Tukaram points to where detachment actually comes from: not solitary effort but the company of saints. Their grace is a lamp; standing near it, the seeker is cleansed. He then sets the test of a real devotee, which is that no sense of "me and you," no inner division, remains in him. The closing image shows what that looks like from the outside: a man so given over that he loses himself in singing and dancing. The path here is relational, not solitary; you are purified by keeping such company.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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