The saints above the image
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करितां देवार्चन । घरा आले संतजन ॥१॥
देव सारावे परते । संत पूजावे आरते ॥ध्रु.॥.
शाळिग्राम विष्णुमूर्ती । संत हो का भलते याती ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे संधी । अधिक वैष्णवांची मांदी ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If while you are performing worship of the deity, saintly people arrive at your door, set the deity aside and attend to the saints with ardent welcome. The deity is a stone image of Vishnu, but the saints, whatever their caste may be, are the living God. Says Tuka, the gathering of devotees is a richer and more sacred occasion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If, while you are worshipping the deity, holy people come to your house, set the deity aside and worship the saints with a warm, eager welcome. The shaligram is a stone image of Vishnu; the saints, whatever caste they are born in, are the living thing. Tuka says: the gathering of the devotees is the greater occasion.
What it means
Tukaram ranks the living above the carved. He tells the worshipper that if saints arrive mid-ritual, the right thing is to set the stone image aside and turn the welcome and the worship toward them. His reason is direct: the shaligram is an image of Vishnu, but the saints, no matter what caste they were born into, carry God alive in them. The caste clause is deliberate; he refuses to let birth outrank holiness. The closing line lands the claim plainly: the company of devotees is the higher and more sacred moment, worth more than the rite it interrupts.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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