The saints, rest at their feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सुखवाटे ये चि ठायी । बहु पायीं संतांचें ॥1॥
ह्मणऊनि केला वास । नाहीं नास ते ठायीं ॥ध्रु.॥
न करवे हाली चाली । निवारिली चिंता हे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे निवे तनु । रजकणु लागती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Happiness is found at the feet of the saints. Therefore I have made my dwelling there, where nothing perishes. I need not stir or wander, for all anxiety has been removed. Says Tuka, this body cools as the sacred dust touches it.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Happiness is right here, at the feet of the saints. So I have made my home here, in the place where nothing perishes. I need not stir, I need not wander. All my worry is gone. Tuka says: the body grows cool as the sacred dust touches it.
What it means
The poet has stopped his seeking and settled at the feet of the saints, because that is where happiness actually is. He calls it the place where nothing perishes, so there is no reason left to move on or look elsewhere. With the wandering ended, the anxiety that drove it falls away too. Even the body feels it: the dust from the saints' feet is cooling, like relief after long fever.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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