The Name, easy where ritual fails
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कर्म धर्म नव्हती सांग । उण्या अंगें पतन ॥1॥
भलत्या काळें नामावळी । सुलभ भोळी भाविकां ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रायिश्चत्तें पडती पायां । गाती तयां वैष्णवां ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नुपजे दोष करा घोष आनंदे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Rituals and duties cannot be performed perfectly; any flaw leads to a fall. But the chanting of God's Name is easy and gentle, accessible to the devout at all times. Even the penances themselves bow down before those Vaishnavas who sing. Says Tuka, no fault arises from it. Sing the Name with joy.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Rituals and duties can never be done perfectly. One small flaw, and you fall. But chanting God's Name is easy and gentle, open to the simple-hearted at any hour. The penances themselves come and fall at the feet of the Vaishnavas who sing. Tuka says: from this no fault can arise. Sing the Name with joy.
What it means
Tukaram is setting two paths side by side and showing why one is safe. Ritual and prescribed duty demand exactness, and a single defect undoes the whole act, so the careful path is always near to failure. The Name asks no such precision; it is available to the unlettered and the trusting at any time and in any condition. He goes further: the very penances meant to repair ritual error bow before those who simply sing, because the singing has already done what penance was for. The closing point is that chanting carries no risk of fault at all, so it can be done freely and with joy.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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