The Name, even Rama wept
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
रामा वनवास । तेणें वसे सर्व देश ॥1॥
केलें नामाचें जतन । समर्थ तो नव्हे भिन्न ॥ध्रु.॥
वनांतरीं रडे । ऐसे पुराणीं पवाडे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणें ॠषिनेम । ऐसा कळोनि कां भ्रम ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Rama went to the forest, and by that exile He came to dwell in every land. He preserved the power of His name; the Capable One is never truly separate. He wept in the forest. Such are the heroic deeds recorded in the Puranas. Says Tuka, knowing this to be the vow of the sages, why still be deluded?
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Rama went to the forest, and by that exile he came to dwell in every land. He kept the power of his name; the Capable One is never truly separate. He wept in the forest. Such are the heroic deeds the Puranas record. Tuka says: knowing this is the vow the sages keep, why still be deluded?
What it means
Tukaram reads Rama's forest exile as something other than mere misfortune. By going into banishment, Rama came to dwell everywhere, and he held fast to the power of his Name, so the Capable One was never really cut off from his own strength. Tukaram does not hide that the Puranas record Rama weeping in the forest; even God in human form passed through grief. He takes this as the very example the sages hold to as a vow, and ends by asking the listener why, knowing all this, one should still stay deluded about one's own trials.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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