Not Necessarily Saints, Says Tukaram

They’re not mystics because they write poetry,
not saints because they’re related to a saint.
Their names and costumes don’t matter;
only those who face the enemy in battle are brave.
They’re not mystics just because they play instruments
and drape an ascetic’s blanket over their shoulders,
or sing and recite scriptures.
Reading the Vedas and performing rituals
does not make them saints.
Penances, pilgrimages and living in forests
make no one a mystic.
Beads, caste marks and smeared ashes —
these don’t make a saint.
If they don’t forget the body*, says Tuka,
they’re just people of the world.

— Sant Tukarama, Many Voices, One Song, The Poet Mystics of Maharashtra

* Note: “forget the body”, or in other words, being able to transcend the material realm via a meditation practice.