The saints as touchstone, the lost path
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
अवघा भार वाटे देवा । संतसेवा न घडतां ॥1॥
कसोटी हे असे हातीं । सत्य भूतीं भगवंत ॥ध्रु.॥
चुकलोंसा दिसें पंथ । गेले संत तो ऐसा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सोंग वांयां । कारण या अनुभवें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Everything feels like a burden, O God, when service to the saints does not happen. This is the touchstone at hand: that God truly dwells in all beings. I seem to have lost the path that the saints once walked. Says Tuka, pretense is useless; what matters is this direct experience.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Everything feels like a weight, O God, when I cannot serve the saints. The test is right here in my hand: God truly lives in all beings. I feel I have lost the path the saints once walked. Tuka says: pretense is useless; what counts is this direct experience.
What it means
Tukaram names how he checks whether his devotion is real. Service to the saints is the touchstone, the assay that tells true gold from false, because the saints are where he meets the God who dwells in every being; when that service does not happen, life turns heavy. He confesses he feels off the road the saints walked, and he refuses to settle for keeping up appearances. The only thing that proves anything, he says, is anubhava, the firsthand experience itself.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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