The Name, the hour time cannot touch
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काळाचिया सत्ता ते नाहीं घटिका । पंढरीनायका आठवितां ॥1॥
सदाकाळ गणना करी आयुष्याची । कथेचे वेळेची आज्ञा नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
याकारणें माझ्या विठोबाची कीतिन । आहे हे त्रिजगतीं थोर वाट ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जन्मा आलियाचें फळ । स्मरावा गोपाळ तें चि खरें ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Time has no power over the moment spent remembering the Lord of Pandhari. Time forever counts down one's lifespan, but it has no command over the hour of sacred story. For this reason, the fame of my Vithoba is known across the three worlds as supremely great. Says Tuka, the true fruit of being born in this world is to remember Gopala. That alone is real.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Time has no power over the moment spent remembering the Lord of Pandhari. Time forever counts down our days, but it has no command over the hour given to sacred story. So the fame of my Vithoba is known across the three worlds as great. Tuka says: the true fruit of being born is to remember Gopala. That alone is real.
What it means
Tukaram is setting one moment outside the reach of death. Time is always tallying our lifespan, drawing it down toward its end, but the moment given to remembering the Lord of Pandhari falls under no such count. The hour of kirtan, of sacred telling, is exempt from time's authority. That, he says, is why Vithoba's renown stands as supreme across the three worlds. He lands the claim plainly: the one real fruit of a human birth is to remember Gopala, and nothing else can be called real in the same way.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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