The true Vaishnava, beyond caste
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वैष्णव तो जया । अवघी देवावरी माया ॥१॥
नाहीं आणीक प्रमाण । तन धन तृण जन ॥ध्रु.॥
पडतां जड भारी । नेमा न टळे निर्धारीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे याती । हो का तयाची भलती ॥३॥
आम्ही न वजों तया वाटा । नाचूं पंढरीचोहटां ॥ध्रु.॥
पावोत आत्मिस्थति । कोणी म्हणोत उत्तम मुक्ति ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे छंद । आम्हां हरिच्या दासां निंद्य ॥३॥
॥ स्वामीस सद्गुरूची कृपा जाली ॥ - अभंग ४
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A true Vaishnava is one whose entire love rests upon God alone. There is no other measure: body, wealth, reputation, and people are all as grass to him. Even when the heaviest burden falls, his vow never wavers. Says Tuka, let his caste be whatever it may. We will not walk those other paths; we dance in the open square of Pandhari. Let anyone attain the state of Self-realization; let them call it the highest liberation. Says Tuka, we who are servants of Hari find all such talk of no account.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A true Vaishnava is one whose whole love rests on God. There is no other measure. Body, wealth, reputation, people: all of it is grass to him. Even when the heaviest burden falls on him, his vow does not waver. Tuka says: let his caste be whatever it may. We will not walk those other paths; we dance in the open square of Pandhari. Let anyone reach the state of the Self; let them call it the highest liberation. Tuka says: we who are servants of Hari hold all such talk of no account.
What it means
Tukaram is redefining who counts as a real devotee, and the test is love, not birth. The one mark of a Vaishnava is that his whole heart rests on God; body, wealth, name, and people weigh no more than grass against that. Such a one holds his vow steady under any burden, and his caste, high or low, is simply beside the point. Tukaram then sets devotion above the prize that most spiritual paths chase: even the state of Self-realization, even the highest liberation, does not interest the servant of Hari. He would rather dance in the open square at Pandhari than walk the road that ends in mukti.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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