Saints, the poor host's welcome
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संत आले घरा । तों मी अभागी दातारा ॥1॥
कासयानें पूजा करूं । चरण हृदयीं च धरूं ॥ध्रु.॥
काया कुरवंडी। करुन ओंवाळून सांडी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भावें । हात जोडीं असो ठावें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When saints come to my home, I am so poor, O generous Lord. With what shall I worship them? I will simply hold their feet within my heart. I will offer my body as a sacrifice, waving it around them as an offering. Says Tuka, with devotion I fold my hands; let this be known.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Saints have come to my house, and I am so poor, O generous Lord. With what shall I worship them? I will hold their feet within my heart. I will make my body an offering, waving it around them and casting it away. Tuka says: with all my heart I fold my hands. Let this be known.
What it means
Tukaram greets the arrival of saints as the highest visit, and confesses he has nothing fit to honor them with. The poverty is not only material; it is the helplessness of love that cannot find an offering equal to the guests. So he gives what he has: their feet held inside his heart, and his own body waved around them like a lamp and surrendered. The folded hands at the end are the whole of his worship, offered in pure feeling and openly declared, since that sincerity is the one gift a poor host can truly give.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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