The Name, the one authority
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मांसी तों नाहीं आणीक प्रमाण । नामासी कारण विठोबाच्या ॥1॥
घालूनियां कास करितो कैवाड । वागों नेदीं आड किळकाळासी ॥ध्रु.॥
अबद्ध वांकडें जैशातैशा परी । वाचे हरि हरि उच्चारावें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मां सांपडलें निज । सकळां हें बीज पुराणांचें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
For us, there is no authority higher than the Name of Vithoba. I have girded my loins and taken up His cause; I will not let the shrieking death stand in the way. However broken, however crooked, in whatever manner possible, let the tongue utter Hari, Hari. Says Tuka, we have found our true treasure. This is the seed of all the Puranas.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
For us there is no higher proof than Vithoba's Name. I have girded my loins and taken up His cause; I will not let cruel death stand in my way. However broken, however crooked, in whatever way it comes, let the tongue say Hari, Hari. Tuka says: we have found our own treasure. This is the seed of all the Puranas.
What it means
Tukaram sets the Name above every other authority and pledges himself to it like a fighter girding for battle, refusing to let even death block the path. He removes every excuse about doing it correctly: say Hari, Hari however clumsily or imperfectly, because the manner does not matter, only that the tongue keeps saying it. He calls this his found treasure and goes further, claiming the Name is the seed from which all the Puranas grow. The stakes he names are that the simplest practice, available to anyone, holds the whole of scripture inside it.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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