Adoration, the saints are all my wealth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
संतांच्या पादुका घेईन मोचे खांदीं । हातीं टाळ दिंडी नाचेन पुढें ॥1॥
भजनविधी नेणें साधन उपाय । सकळ सििद्ध पाय हरिदासांचे ॥ध्रु.॥
ध्यानगति मति आसन समाधि । हरिनाम गोविंदीं प्रेमसुख ॥2॥
नेणता निर्लज्ज नेणें नादभेद । सुखें हा गोविंद गाऊं गीतीं ॥3॥
सर्व जोडी मज गोत आणि वित्त । तुका ह्मणे संतमहंतपाय ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I will carry the sandals of the saints on my shoulders and dance ahead of the procession, cymbals in hand. I know no method of worship, no spiritual practice. All perfection lies in the feet of Hari's servants. Meditation, concentration, posture, and samadhi are all found in the love of Govinda's name. Ignorant and shameless, I know no musical refinement; I will simply sing Govinda's song with joy. Says Tuka, the feet of the great saints are all my wealth, my kin, my treasure.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I will carry the sandals of the saints on my shoulder. With cymbals in my hand I will dance ahead of the procession. I know no rule of worship, no method, no means. All perfection is in the feet of Hari's servants. The way of meditation, the right mind, the posture, the deep absorption: these are all in Govinda's name, in the joy of love. I am ignorant and shameless. I know nothing of musical refinement. I will simply sing this Govinda's song with joy. Tuka says: the feet of the great saints are all my kin and all my treasure.
What it means
Tukaram is refusing the whole apparatus of technique and putting everything on devotion to the saints. He casts himself as a man with no training, who carries the saints' sandals and dances before the procession because that is all he can offer. Where others seek perfection through meditation, posture, and samadhi, he says all of it is already contained in the love of God's name. He even owns his lack of musical skill and his shamelessness, refusing to be embarrassed, because the singing matters and the polish does not. The last line names what has replaced family and property for him: the feet of the saints are now his kin and his wealth.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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