The Name, the soldier of Vitthal
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हरिनामाचें करूनि तारूं । भवसिंधुपार उतरलों ॥1॥
फावलें फावलें आतां । पायीं संतां विनटलों ॥ध्रु.॥
हरिनामाचा शस्त्र घोडा । संसार गाढा छेदिला ॥2॥
हरिनामाचीं धनुष्यकांडें । विन्मुख तोंडें किळकाळ ॥3॥
येणें चि बळें सरते आह्मी । हरिचे नामें लोकीं तिहीं ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे जालों साचे । श्रीविठ्ठलाचे डिंगर ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Making a raft of Hari's Name, I have crossed the ocean of existence. I have found it, I have found it! I have surrendered at the feet of the saints. With the Name of Hari as my sword and steed, I have cut through the dense jungle of worldly life. The Name of Hari is my bow and arrow; shrieking death turns its face away in defeat. By this strength alone we prevail in all three worlds: the Name of Hari. Says Tuka, we have truly become the soldiers of Shri Vitthala.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I made a raft of Hari's Name and crossed to the far shore of this ocean of existence. I have found it, I have found it. I have surrendered at the feet of the saints. Hari's Name is my sword and my warhorse; with it I have cut through the dense thicket of worldly life. Hari's Name is my bow and arrows; cruel death turns its face away and flees. By this strength alone we prevail in all three worlds: by the Name of Hari. Tuka says: we have truly become the soldiers of Shri Vitthala.
What it means
Tukaram celebrates the Name as the one weapon that wins every battle a soul has to fight. He turns it into raft, sword, horse, bow, and arrows, an entire armory, and with it he crosses the ocean of existence, cuts through the jungle of worldly life, and routs death itself. The cry I have found it marks the joy of a man who has stopped searching, having surrendered at the saints' feet. The closing line names what he has become: not a master who owns the Name, but a soldier in Vitthal's service, his strength borrowed entirely from his Lord's Name.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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