Saints, the only festival
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
दसरा दिवाळी तो चि आह्मां सन । सखे संतजन भेटतील ॥1॥
आमुप जोडल्या सुखाचिया राशी । पार या भाग्यासी न दिसे आतां ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका ह्मणे काय होऊं उतराई । जीव ठेऊं पांयीं संतांचिये ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Dasara and Diwali are festivals for us only when we meet the company of saintly friends. Our heaps of happiness have been gathered, and there seems no end to this fortune. Says Tuka, how can I repay this debt? Let me lay down my life at the feet of the saints.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Dasara and Diwali are festivals for us only when we meet our friends the saints. Heaps of happiness have been gathered, and now I can see no end to this good fortune. Tuka says: how can I ever repay it? Let me lay my life down at the feet of the saints.
What it means
Tukaram redefines what a festival is. The great days of the calendar, Dasara and Diwali, mean nothing to him on their own; they become true celebration only in the company of holy people. He counts that company as wealth already heaped up, a fortune so large he can see no limit to it. Faced with a gift this great, he finds no payment equal to it, and offers the only thing he has: his own life laid at the saints' feet.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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