The saints, the dust of their road
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संत मारगीं चालती । त्यांची लागो मज माती ॥1॥
शेष घेईन उिच्छष्ट । धाय धणीवरी पोट ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे संतां पायीं । जीव ठेविला निश्चयीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Let the dust from the road where the saints walk fall upon me. I will eat their leftovers and fill my belly to the brim. Says Tuka, at the feet of the saints I have placed my life with full conviction.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The saints walk along the road. Let their dust fall on me. I will eat what they leave behind, their leftovers, and fill my belly full. Tuka says: at the feet of the saints I have set down my life, and I am sure of it.
What it means
Tukaram puts himself as low as he can before the saints. He asks not for their company as an equal but only for the dust raised by their feet to touch him, and for their leftover food to fill him. This is the language of total humility, where nearness to holy people is itself the blessing he wants. The claim he lands is one of settled conviction: he has laid his very life at the saints' feet, with no doubt about it. The unspoken frame is that the company and service of the saints is, for him, the surest way to God.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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