The saints, freedom from Yama's noose
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
यमाचे हे पाश नाटोपती कोणातें । आह्मां दिनानाथें रिक्षयेलें ॥1॥
यम नेतां तुह्मां रक्षील हें कोण । तुह्मां धन्यधन्य कोण ह्मणती ॥ध्रु.॥
संतसज्जनमेळा पवित्र संतकीतिन । त्यांनीं उत्तम िस्थति सांगितली ॥2॥
तें चि धरोनि चित्तीं तुका हित करी। यमासि पांपरी हाणे आतां ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The noose of Yama cannot be resisted by anyone, yet the Lord of the lowly has freed us from it. When Yama comes to take you, who will protect you? Who will call you blessed then? The company of saints and the glory of their virtue have shown the noblest path. Holding this truth in my chitta, Tuka works for the good of all and now kicks Yama's messengers aside.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Yama's noose cannot be thrown off by anyone, yet the Lord of the lowly has freed us from it. When Yama comes to take you, who will protect you? Who will call you blessed then? The gathering of saints and good people, the pure glory of the saints, have shown the highest state. Holding that very thing in the heart, Tuka works for the good of all, and now he kicks Yama's messengers aside.
What it means
Tukaram contrasts a fear no one escapes with a rescue he has already received. Yama's noose, death and its reckoning, binds everyone, and he presses the reader with the question: when it comes, who will save you, who will call you blessed? His answer is the company of saints, whose pure example pointed him to the highest state, and the Lord of the lowly who acts through them. Holding that in his heart, he says he can now kick aside the messengers of death, not as a boast over a person but as the confidence the saints' path gives against the one fear that masters all.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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