The saints, gladly lowest at their door
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतसमागम एखादिया परी । राहावें त्याचे द्वारीं श्वानयाती ॥१॥
तेथें रामनाम होईल श्रवण । घडेल भोजन उच्छिष्टाचें ॥ध्रु.॥
कामारी बटीक सेवेचे सेवक । दीनपण रंक तेथें भलें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे सर्व सुख त्या संगती । घडेल पंगती संतांचिया ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
By any means, one should keep the company of saints. Even if you must linger at their door taking on the very station of a dog, do so. There you will hear the name of Rama and partake of their blessed leftovers. Be a laborer, a servant, a menial in their service; lowliness and poverty are good there. Says Tuka, all happiness lies in their company; you will have a place at the table of the saints.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
By any means at all, keep the company of saints. Even if you must stay at their door taking the rank of a dog, do it. There you will hear the name of Rama, and you will eat their leftovers. Be a laborer, a servant, a menial in their service; to be lowly and poor is good there. Tuka says: all happiness is in that company. You will get a place at the saints' own table.
What it means
Tukaram is urging the listener to pay any price in pride to be near the saints. He says: even if it means crouching at their door like a dog, do it, because what is gained there is worth more than dignity. At that door you hear the Name and live on the saints' leftovers, and the usual marks of shame, being a servant, a menial, poor and low, become good things rather than humiliations. The whole poem inverts the world's ranking of high and low. He promises that this self-chosen lowliness ends not in disgrace but at the table itself, in the full company and joy of the saints.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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