Saints, do not torment a devotee
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
छळी विष्णुदासा कोणी । त्याची अमंगळ वाणी ॥१॥
येऊं न द्यावा समोर । अभागी तो दुराचार ॥ध्रु.॥
नावडे हरिकथा । त्याची व्यभिचारीण माता ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे याति । भ्रष्ट तयाचि ते मति ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Whoever torments a devotee of Vishnu, his very speech is polluted. Such a wretch of evil conduct should never be allowed to come near. One who has no love for Hari's story, his mother is no better than an adulteress. Says Tuka, such a one is corrupt in birth and fallen in understanding.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whoever torments a servant of Vishnu, his speech itself is foul. Do not let such a one come in front of you; that wretch is unlucky and corrupt in conduct. The one who has no love for the story of Hari, his mother is no better than an adulteress. Tuka says: such a one is base in birth and his mind is fallen.
What it means
Tukaram defends the devotee and condemns the impulse to harass one. He says the very speech of a person who torments a servant of Vishnu is polluted, and he would keep such conduct at a distance. His harshest lines fall on the one who feels no love for hearing about Hari, calling his birth and his understanding corrupt. The fierceness is aimed at the pattern of contempt for the sacred and for those who love God, not at writing off a soul; the abhanga measures a person's true state by whether the story of Hari draws them or repels them, and asks the listener which way it pulls in their own heart.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
More in this theme →