मराठी मूळ
आह्मां सोइरे हरिजन । जनीं भाग्य निकंचन ॥1॥
ज्याच्या धैर्या नाहीं भंग । भाव एकविध रंग ॥ध्रु.॥
भुके तान्हे चित्तीं। सदा देव आठविती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धन । ज्याचें वित्त नारायण ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My true kin are the people of God, those whose fortune lies beyond worldly riches. Their steadiness never breaks; their devotion is single-minded and unwavering. Even when hungry and thirsty, they remember God always in their chitta. Says Tuka, blessed are those whose only wealth is Narayana.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The people of God are my kin. In this world their fortune is to own nothing. Their courage never breaks; their devotion is of one kind, one color. Hungry and thirsty, they keep God in mind always. Tuka says: their wealth is this, that their only riches is Narayana.
What it means
Tukaram is redrawing the lines of kinship and wealth. He claims the harijans, the people of God, as his real family, and he counts their worldly poverty as their good fortune rather than a lack. What marks them is unbroken steadiness and a devotion that has only one direction. Even pressed by hunger and thirst they do not forget God, and Tukaram names the reversal plainly: the man whose entire fortune is Narayana is the truly rich man, however empty his hands look to the world.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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