Saints, the diamond keeps its worth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हिरा ठेवितां काळें गाहाण । मोल न तुटे दुकाळीं जाण ॥1॥
तैसे संतजन पाहीं । विनटले श्रीहरिपायीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तैसे भक्त । तयांसी जन हें निंदित ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A diamond placed in safekeeping, even in dark times, does not lose its value. Such are the saintly ones, devoted to the feet of Shrihari. Says Tuka, such devotees may be slandered by the world, but their worth never diminishes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A diamond left in safekeeping, even through dark times, does not lose its value, even in a famine. So look at the saints: they are joined wholly to the feet of Shrihari. Tuka says: such devotees the world may slander, yet their worth does not fall.
What it means
Tukaram answers the slander that lands on holy people with a steady image. A diamond does not cheapen because times are hard or a famine comes; its worth is in itself, not in the world's mood. The saints are like that, fastened to the feet of Shrihari, so their value rests in that bond and nowhere else. The point for self-examination is to weigh the saints by what they are joined to, not by the world's opinion of them, since slander cannot lower what was never priced by the world.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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