Saints, longing for the dust of their feet
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पंढरीची वारी जयांचिये घरीं । पायधुळी शिरीं वंदिन त्यांची ॥1॥
दासाचा मी दास पोसणा डोंगर । आतां बहु फार काय बोलों ॥ध्रु.॥
जातीचें मी हीन न कळे भजन । ह्मणोनि संतचरण इच्छीतसें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मज ह्मणावें आपुलें । बहुता तारिलें संतजनीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In the homes of those who make the pilgrimage to Pandhari, I will bow my head to the dust of their feet. I am a servant of servants, sheltered by the mountain of their grace. What more can I say? I am lowly by birth and know nothing of devotion. Therefore I long for the feet of the saints. Says Tuka, call me Your own. Many have been saved by the holy ones.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In the homes of those who make the Pandhari pilgrimage, I will bow my head to the dust of their feet. I am the servant of servants, sheltered by the mountain of their grace. What more can I say now? I am low by birth and know nothing of devotion, so I long for the feet of the saints. Tuka says: call me your own. The holy ones have saved a great many.
What it means
Tukaram lowers himself entirely before the company of the saints, the people who make the yearly pilgrimage to Pandhari. He wants nothing but to honor the dust of their feet and calls himself the servant of their servants. He names his own disqualifications openly, his low birth and his lack of any skill in devotion, and turns these very lacks into the reason he clings to the saints rather than to his own merit. His one request is to be claimed as their own. The hope behind it is plain: the saints have rescued many already, so their grace, not his worth, is what he counts on.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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