The Name, this body can reach Vaikuntha
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ये हि तन करते क्या ना होय । भजन भगति करे वैकुंठे जाय ॥1॥
रामनाम मोल नहिं वेचे कबरि । वो हि सब माया छुरावत झगरी ॥2॥
कहे तुका मनसुं मिल राखो । रामरस जिव्हा नित्य चाखो ॥3॥
हम दास तीन्हके सुनाहो लोकां । रावणमार विभीषण दिई लंका ॥ध्रु.॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I am the servant of those who hear this truth. Listen, O people: He who slew Ravana gave Lanka to Vibhishana. What is it that this body cannot accomplish? Through bhajan and bhakti, one reaches Vaikuntha. The Name of Rama has no price and is never put up for sale. All else is maya, the cause of strife and entanglement. Says Tuka, stay joined with your own mind. Let your tongue taste the rasa of Rama every day.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I am the servant of those who hear this truth. Listen, O people: he who slew Ravana gave Lanka to Vibhishana. What is it that this body cannot accomplish? Through bhajan and bhakti, one reaches Vaikuntha. The Name of Rama has no price and is never put up for sale. All else is maya, the cause of strife and entanglement. Tuka says: stay joined with your own mind. Let your tongue taste the rasa of Rama every day.
What it means
Tukaram insists that this very human body is enough to reach God. He offers proof from the story: the Rama who killed Ravana then handed the whole of Lanka to Vibhishana, so the Lord's generosity is past measuring. There is nothing this body cannot do once it turns to bhajan and bhakti; the goal is Vaikuntha, and it is in reach. The Name is the one thing that has no price and cannot be bought or sold, while everything else is maya that only breeds conflict. So the instruction is simple and daily: keep your mind gathered and let your tongue taste Rama's rasa every single day.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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