The Name, God runs to kirtan
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
निजल्यानें गातां उभा नारायण । बैसल्या कीर्तन करितां डोले ॥1॥
उभा राहोनियां मुखीं नाम वदे । नाचे नाना छंदें गोविंद हा ॥ध्रु.॥
मारगीं चालतां मुखीं नाम वाणी । उभा चक्रपाणी मागें पुढें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे यासी कीर्तनाची गोडी । प्रेमे घाली उडी नामासाटीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When a sleeping devotee sings, Narayana stands up to listen. When a seated devotee does kirtan, Govinda sways along. When one walks the road chanting his name, the bearer of the disc walks before and behind. Says Tuka, God has such a love for kirtan that he leaps with joy at the sound of his own name.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When a devotee sings lying down, Narayana stands up to hear. When one sings seated in kirtan, Govinda sways along. When one walks the road with the Name in the mouth, the bearer of the disc walks ahead and behind. Tuka says: he has such a taste for kirtan that he leaps for love at the sound of his own Name.
What it means
Tukaram is saying that God is not the distant lord who must be coaxed; he is the one who comes running to his singers. He paints it in plain postures: the devotee lying down, seated, walking, and at each one God answers, standing to listen, swaying along, guarding the road in front and behind. The Name is the thread that pulls him close. The last line names the stakes: God himself loves kirtan, and leaps for the joy of hearing his own Name sung.
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