The Name, glory beyond my words
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मी तों अल्प मतिहीन । काय वणूप तुझे गुण । उदकीं तारिले पाषाण । हें महिमान नामाचें ॥1॥
नाम चांगलें चांगलें । माझे कंठीं राहो भलें । कपिकुळ उद्धरिलें । मुक्त केलें राक्षसां ॥ध्रु.॥
द्रोणागिरि कपिहातीं । आणविला सीतापती । थोर केली ख्याति । भरतभेटीसमयीं ॥2॥
शिळा होती मनुष्य जाली । थोर कीतिन वाखाणिली । लंका दहन केली । हनुमंते काशानें ॥3॥
राम जानकीजीवन । योगियांचे निजध्यान । राम राजीवलोचन । तुका चरण वंदितो ॥4॥ ॥14॥
श्लोकरूपी अभंग - ॥6॥
तुजवाचुनी मागणें काय कोणा । महीमंडळीं विश्वव्यापकजना ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am small and dull of wit. How can I describe Your glories? You made stones float upon the water. Such is the glory of the Name. May the Name, beautiful and beautiful, remain well at my throat. Through it, the monkey race was uplifted and the demons were liberated. The mountain Drona was brought by a monkey's hands, O Lord of Sita. Great was the glory at the time of reunion with Bharat. A stone became a woman; that vast fame is told far and wide. Hanuman burned Lanka by his firebrand. Rama, the life of Janaki, the yogis' own innermost meditation, the lotus-eyed One. Says Tuka, I bow at His feet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am small and dull of mind. How can I tell your glories? You made stones float on the water. Such is the greatness of the Name. The Name is good, so good; let it stay well at my throat. Through it the monkey clan was lifted up and the demons were set free. The mountain Drona was carried in a monkey's hands, O Lord of Sita. Great was the fame at the meeting with Bharat. A stone became a woman; that vast fame is told everywhere. Hanuman burned Lanka with his firebrand. Rama, the life of Janaki, the yogis' own inward meditation, the lotus-eyed one. Tuka says: I bow at his feet.
What it means
Tukaram opens by confessing he is too small to praise Rama, then praises by pointing to deeds rather than spinning words. Floating stones, the carried mountain, a stone made woman, burning Lanka: each is offered as proof of what the Name and the Lord can do. His one prayer is small and concrete, that the Name simply stay at his throat, since that is all a dull mind needs. The grand acts and the modest request meet in the same trust: the power belongs to Rama and the Name, and Tukaram's part is only to keep it on his lips and bow.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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