Praise of the saints, all heaven waits on them
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वाट वैकुंठीं पाहाती । भक्त कैं पां येथें येती । तयां जन्ममरणखंती । नाहीं चित्तीं परलोक ॥1॥
धन्यधन्य हरिचे दास। तयां सुलभ गर्भवास । ब्रह्मादिक करिती आस । तीर्थावास भेटीची ॥ध्रु.॥
कथाश्रवण व्हावयास । यमधर्मा थोर आस । पाहे रात्रदिवस। वाट कर जोडोनियां ॥2॥
रिद्धिसिद्धी न पाचारितां । त्या धुंडिती हरिभक्तां । मोक्ष सायोज्यता । वाट पाहे भक्तांची ॥3॥
असती जेथें उभे ठेले । सदा प्रेमसुखें धाले । आणीक ही उद्धरिले । महादोषी चांडाळ ॥4॥
सकळ करिती त्यांची आस । सर्वभावें ते उदास । धन्यभाग्य त्यांस । तुका ह्मणे दरुषणें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
In Vaikuntha they watch the road, waiting for when the devotees will come. Those devotees carry no grief of birth and death, no grief over the afterlife in their chitta. Blessed, blessed are the servants of Hari. Even the womb is easy for them. Brahma and the other gods long for the pilgrimage of meeting them. Yama Dharma greatly desires to hear the sacred stories, watching day and night with folded hands. Riches and powers come unsummoned, seeking out the devotees of Hari. Liberation itself waits at the path of the devotees. Wherever they stand, they are forever filled with the joy of love, and they uplift even the greatly faulted and the most despised. All beings long for them, yet they themselves remain wholly detached. Says Tuka, blessed is the fortune of those who receive their darshan.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
In Vaikuntha they watch the road, waiting for the day the devotees come. Those devotees carry no grief of birth and death. There is no anxiety about the afterlife in their hearts. Blessed, blessed are the servants of Hari. Even the womb is easy for them. Brahma and the gods long to make the pilgrimage of meeting them. Yama, lord of dharma, longs to hear the sacred stories; he watches day and night with folded hands. Riches and powers come unsummoned, seeking out the devotees of Hari. Liberation itself waits at the path of these devotees. Wherever they stand, they are forever full of the joy of love. They lift up even the greatly faulted and the most despised. All beings long for them, yet they themselves stay wholly detached. Tuka says: blessed is the fortune of those who receive their darshan.
What it means
Tukaram reverses the usual picture of heaven waiting at the end of the road, and puts Hari's devotees at the center instead. Vaikuntha, Brahma, and even Yama, the very judge of the dead, all stand in longing for these servants of Hari, who are free of the fear of birth, death, and the afterlife. The powers and the liberation that ordinary seekers strain after come on their own and wait at the devotee's feet. The mark of such a person is twofold: they are full of love's joy yet wholly detached, and they raise up even the lowest, the most despised. The stakes Tukaram names are simple: nearness to such a devotee, their darshan, is the highest fortune, higher than any heaven.
The Saints
The character and service of true saints: softer than butter, harder than diamond.
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