The Name, the easy way through
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
साधीं हा प्रपंच पंचाय अग्न । तेणें पावसील निजशांती रे ॥1॥
नारायणनाम नारायणनाम । नित्य करीं काम जिव्हामुखें ।
जन्मजराव्याधि पापपुण्य तेथें । नासती सकळ ही दुःखें ॥ध्रु.॥
शीत उष्ण वन सेवितां कपाट । आसनसमाधी साधीं । तप तीर्थ दान व्रत आचरण।
यज्ञ नाना मन बुद्धी । भोगाभोग तेथें न चुकती प्रकार जन्मजरादुःखव्याधि।
साहोनि काम क्रोध अहंकार । आश्रमीं अविनाश साधीं ॥2॥
घोकितां अक्षर अभिमानविधि । निषेध लागला पाठी । वाद करितां निंदा घडती दोष होय वज्रलेपो भविष्यति ।
दूषणाचें मूळ भूषण तुका ह्मणे । सांडीं मिथ्या खंती । रिघोनि संतां शरण सर्वभावें । राहें भलतिया िस्थती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Master this worldly life as the five fires of austerity. By doing so, you will attain your own innate peace. Chant the name Narayana, Narayana; make this the constant work of tongue and lips. By this, birth, old age, disease, sin, virtue: all miseries are destroyed. Through enduring heat and cold, forest austerities, posture and samadhi, through penance, pilgrimage, charity, vows and observances, through sacrifice and the disciplines of mind and intellect: the suffering of worldly existence is not escaped, nor the misery of birth, aging, disease and death. Endure lust, anger and pride, and through these hermitage-disciplines, realize the Imperishable. But the pride of memorized learning breeds prohibitions and their shadows. Debate leads to slander and sin, and these will set like vajra-cement, impossible to remove. Fault-finding at its root is nothing but pride wearing an ornament. Says Tuka, abandon this false anxiety. Surrender completely to the saints and abide in whatever state life brings.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Master this worldly life as the five fires of austerity, and through it you will reach your own deep peace. The name Narayana, the name Narayana: do this work always, with tongue and mouth. By it birth, old age, disease, sin and merit, all sorrows are destroyed. By bearing heat and cold, by forest penance, by posture and trance, by penance, pilgrimage, charity, vows and observances, by sacrifice and the disciplines of mind and intellect, the round of worldly life is still not escaped, nor the misery of birth, aging, disease and death. Endure lust, anger and pride, and through these disciplines realize the Imperishable. But the pride of memorized learning breeds prohibitions and their shadows behind it. Debate breeds slander and fault, and these set hard as stone, never to be removed. The root of fault-finding, Tuka says, is pride wearing an ornament. Drop this false anxiety. Take refuge in the saints with your whole heart, and stay in whatever state life gives you.
What it means
Tukaram weighs the whole apparatus of austerity against the simple Name and finds the austerity wanting. Penance, pilgrimage, sacrifice, the disciplines of posture and intellect: he grants their effort but says they do not by themselves break the cycle of birth and death. The Name, spoken constantly, does the work the harder paths cannot. He then warns against the trap the learned fall into: memorized scripture breeds rules, debate, slander, and a fault-finding that hardens like cement. He names the root of all of it as pride dressed up as discernment, and points instead to whole-hearted surrender to the saints and contentment with whatever state life brings.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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