The Name, dance without shame
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मीं गावें तुह्मीं कोणीं कांहीं न ह्मणावें । ऐसें तंव आह्मां सांगितलें नाहीं देवें ॥1॥
ह्मणा रामराम टाळी वाजवा हातें। नाचा डोला प्रेमें आपुलिया स्वहितें ॥ध्रु.॥
सहज घडे तया आळस करणें तें काई । अग्नीचें भातुकें हात पािळतां कां पायीं ॥2॥
येथें नाहीं लाज भक्तिभाव लौकिक । हांसे तया घडे ब्रह्महत्यापातक ॥3॥
जया जैसा भाव निरोपण करावा । येथें नाहीं चाड ताळविताळ या देवा ॥4॥
सदैव ज्यां कथा काळ घडे श्रवण । तुका ह्मणे येर जन्मा आले पाषाण ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We shall sing, and let none object. God has not told us to hold back. Chant Rama, Rama, clap your hands. Dance and sway with love, for your own highest good. When something arises so naturally, why be lazy about it? A child plays at cooking with fire; why pull back the hand? Here there is no shame, no outward show of devotion, no worldly decorum. Whoever laughs at this incurs the sin of brahmahatya. Express your bhava however you feel it. This God has no interest in keeping beat or keeping count. Says Tuka, blessed are those for whom hearing the sacred stories fills their days. All others have been born into this life as stones.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We will sing, and let no one object; God has not told us to hold back. Say Rama, Rama, clap your hands. Dance and sway with love, for your own good. When something comes so naturally, why be lazy about it? A child plays at cooking with fire; why pull the hand back? Here there is no shame, no show of devotion, no worldly manners. Whoever laughs at this takes on the sin of killing a brahmin. Pour out your love however you feel it; this God does not care about keeping beat or keeping count. Tuka says: blessed are those whose days are filled with hearing the sacred stories. The rest are born into this life as stones.
What it means
Tukaram is defending loud, bodily, unembarrassed devotion against anyone who would police it. He gives the marching orders directly: chant the Name, clap, dance, sway with love, because this is for your own highest good and God never asked you to restrain it. He brushes off the demand for polished form, saying this God cares nothing for keeping time or count; only the love matters. The warning is deliberately fierce: to mock devotees pouring out their hearts is treated as a grave sin, and a life with no taste for the sacred stories is no better than being born a stone. The harshness is aimed at the scorn that would shame open love, not at any one person.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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