Saints, run to their leavings
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जें ज्याचें जेवण । तें चि याचकासी दान ॥1॥
आतां जाऊं चोजवीत । जेथें वसतील संत ॥ध्रु.॥
होतीं धालीं पोटें। मागें उरलीं उिच्छष्टें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धांव । पुढें खुंटईल हांव ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Whatever feast they had is the very alms given to the seeker. Now let me go with delight to where the saints abide. They had eaten their fill, and what remained were their sacred leavings. Says Tuka, run ahead, for soon even this craving will be stilled.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Whatever feast they ate is itself the alms given to the beggar. Now let me go, asking the way, to wherever the saints are living. Their stomachs were full, and behind them they left their sacred leavings. Tuka says: run. Soon even this craving will be cut off.
What it means
Tukaram makes himself a beggar at the saints' door, and treats their leftovers as the highest alms; what is mere remnant to them is a feast to him. He pictures himself asking the road, hurrying to wherever they dwell, because their leavings are sacred. The urgency in 'run' is real: he says soon even this longing itself will be stilled, so the time to seek their company is now, while the hunger for it is still alive.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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