The Name, love over knowledge
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मज नाहीं तुझ्या ज्ञानाची ते चाड । घेतां वाटे गोड नाम तुझें ॥1॥
नेणतें लेंकरूं आवडीचें तान्हें । बोलतों वचनें आवडीनें ॥ध्रु.॥
भक्ती नेणें कांहीं वैराग्य तें नाहीं । घातला विठाई भार तुज ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाचें निर्लज्ज होऊनि । नाहीं माझे मनीं दुजा भाव ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I have no craving for your esoteric knowledge; simply taking your name tastes sweet to me. I am an innocent child, a nursing infant, and I speak these words out of sheer love. I know nothing of devotion or dispassion; I have placed the whole burden upon you, O Vithai. Says Tuka, I dance shamelessly, for there is no trace of duality in my mind.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have no craving for your secret knowledge. Taking your name tastes sweet to me. I am an ignorant child, a nursing infant. I speak these words out of love. I know nothing of devotion. I have no dispassion. I have laid the whole burden on you, Vithai. Tuka says: I dance, shameless, and there is no second feeling in my mind.
What it means
Tukaram sets the simple sweetness of the Name above any esoteric attainment. He refuses to claim knowledge, devotion, or detachment; he calls himself an infant who only babbles out of love. The point is that he hands the entire burden of his salvation to Vithai and keeps nothing for himself to manage. His shameless dancing names the stakes: when the mind holds no second feeling, no division between self and God, the only honest response left is open, undignified joy.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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