Litany of bows to the godly
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आहा रे भाई । नमो उदासीन जाले देहभावा । आळविती देवा तया नमो ॥१॥
नमो तीर्थपंथें चालती तयांसी । येती त्यांसी बोळविती त्यां नमो ॥२॥
नमो तयां संतवचनीं विश्वास । नमो भावें दास्य गुरुचें त्यां ॥३॥
नमो तया मातापित्यांचें पाळण । नमो त्या वचन सत्य वदे ॥४॥
नमो तया जाणे आणिकाचें सुखदुःख । राखे तान भुक तया नमो ॥५॥
परोपकारी नमो पुण्यवंता । नमो त्या दमित्या इंद्रियांसि ॥६॥
तुका म्हणे नमो हरिचिया दासा । तेथें सर्व इच्छा पुरलीसे ॥७॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I bow to those who have become indifferent to the body and who call upon God. I bow to those who walk the pilgrim paths and to those who welcome the coming and see off the going. I bow to those who trust the words of the saints and who serve the guru with devotion. I bow to those who honor their mother and father. I bow to those who speak only truth. I bow to those who understand another's joy and grief and who endure their own hunger and thirst. I bow to those who do good for others. I bow to those who have mastered their senses. Says Tuka, I bow to the servants of Hari; in their presence every desire is fulfilled.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Ah, brother. I bow to those who have grown cool toward the body and who call upon God. I bow to them. I bow to those who walk the pilgrim roads, who welcome those who come and see off those who go. I bow to them. I bow to those who trust the words of the saints. I bow to those who serve the guru with a true heart. I bow to those who care for their mother and father. I bow to those who speak only the truth. I bow to those who feel another's joy and grief, who bear their own hunger and thirst. I bow to them. I bow to those who do good for others, the people of merit. I bow to those who have mastered their senses. Tuka says: I bow to the servants of Hari. There, every wish is fulfilled.
What it means
This is a litany of reverence: Tukaram bows, line after line, to the marks of a truly godly person. The traits he honors are plain and practical, not showy: indifference to the body, trust in the saints, care for one's parents, truthful speech, feeling another's joy and grief, doing good, and mastering the senses. By repeating the bow he makes clear that holiness is recognized in conduct, not in claims. The closing line gathers all of these under one name, the servant of Hari, and says that in such company there is nothing left to want.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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