Saints, reverence for the one who lives his words
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बोले तैसा चाले । त्याचीं वंदीन पाउलें ॥1॥
अंगें झाडीन अंगण । त्याचें दासत्व करीन ॥ध्रु.॥
त्याचा होईन किंकर। उभा ठाकेन जोडोनि कर ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे देव । त्याचे चरणीं माझा भाव ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
One who walks as he talks, I will bow at his feet. I will sweep his courtyard with my own body and serve him as his servant. I will become his attendant, standing before him with folded hands. Says Tuka, such a one is God Himself; my devotion rests at his feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The one who walks as he talks, I will bow at his feet. With my own body I will sweep his courtyard; I will be his servant. I will become his attendant, standing before him with folded hands. Tuka says: such a one is God; my heart rests at his feet.
What it means
Tukaram sets a single test for the saint: that he lives what he speaks, word and deed as one. To such a person he offers not polite respect but full service, sweeping the courtyard with his own body, standing ready with folded hands like a servant. The lowliness is the point; he wants to serve, not be served. The closing line says why the bowing is no exaggeration: in the one whose life and teaching are one, God himself is present, so Tuka's whole devotion rightly rests at his feet.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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