Love of the saints, weeping joy
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाचे टाळी पिटी । प्रेमें अंग धरणीं लोटी ॥1॥
माझे सखे ते सज्जन । भोळे भाविक हरिजन ॥ध्रु.॥
न धरिती लाज । नाहीं जनासवें काज ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दाटे । कंठ नेत्रीं जळ लोटे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He dances, he claps, he rolls upon the ground in ecstasy. These are my true friends: the simple, faithful devotees of Hari. They hold no shame; they have no business with the world's opinion. Says Tuka, the throat chokes with emotion and tears stream from the eyes.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He dances. He claps his hands. In love he throws his body down on the ground. These are my dear ones, my true friends: the simple, trusting servants of Hari. They hold no shame. They have no use for what people think of them. Tuka says: my throat chokes, and tears pour from my eyes.
What it means
Tukaram is naming who he loves and why. The friends he claims are not the learned or the impressive, but the simple devotees of Hari who lose themselves in song: dancing, clapping, falling to the ground in love. Their mark is that they feel no shame and care nothing for public opinion; the world's regard has no hold on them. Watching this, Tukaram is overcome himself, his throat tight and his eyes streaming. The poem says the company of such open-hearted devotees is the thing that moves him most.
Devotion to Vitthal
Poems of praise, invocation, and intimate address to Lord Vitthal at Pandharpur.
More in this theme →