The Name, sins burned to ash
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कृष्णरामनाम मांडीं पां वोळी । तेणें होइल होळी पापा धुनी ॥1॥
ऐसा मना छंद लावीं रे अभ्यास । जया नाहीं नास ब्रह्मरसा ॥ध्रु.॥
जोडी तरी ऐसी करावी न सरे । पुढें आस नुरे मागुताली ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसें धरा कांहीं मनीं । यातायाती खाणीं चुकतील ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Set up rows of Krishna and Rama's Name. By it, a Holi-fire will be made of sin's burning. Let the mind take up this rhythm with passion, for the essence of Brahman is never destroyed. If you must acquire something, let it be that which never runs out, so that no future craving remains. Says Tuka, hold this firmly in your mind, and the matrix of births through different species will be escaped.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Set up rows of the names of Krishna and Rama. From that, a Holi-fire will rise, and it will burn your sins to ash. Set your mind to this practice; love it. The essence of Brahman is never destroyed. If you must gather something, gather what never runs out, so that no craving is left for later. Tuka says: hold this much in your mind, and you will escape the rounds of birth through womb after womb.
What it means
Tukaram tells you what to invest in and what the return is. He says to line up the names of Krishna and Rama on the tongue, like fuel laid in rows, and let them catch into a bonfire that burns sin away as Holi burns the old. He asks you to make this repetition a settled habit of the mind, because the taste of Brahman it gives is the one thing that cannot be destroyed. Everything else you could acquire runs out and leaves you craving more; the Name does not. Hold to it, he promises, and the wheel of rebirth through species after species comes to an end.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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