The Name, give me only this
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझें नाम मुखीं न घेतां आवडी । जिव्हा ते चि घडी झडो माझी ॥1॥
हें मज देई हें मज देई । आणिक दुजें कांहीं न मगें तुज ॥ध्रु.॥
बहिर कान तुझी कीर्ती नाइकतां । पाय न देखतां जात डोळे ॥3॥
मना तुझें ध्यान नाहीं नित्य काळ । धिग तें चांडाळ जळो जळो ॥3॥
हातपाय तेणें पंथ न चलतां । जावे ते अनंता गळोनियां ॥4॥
तुजविण जिणें नाहीं मज चाड । तुका ह्मणे गोड नाम तुझें ॥5॥
ह्मणसी होऊनी नििंश्चता । हरूनियां अवघी चिंता । मग जाऊं एकांता
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
May my tongue fall off the very moment it fails to utter Your name with love. Give me this, give me this alone; I ask nothing else of You. Let my ears go deaf if they do not hear Your glory; let my eyes perish if they do not see Your feet. If my mind does not hold Your meditation at all times, then curse that wretched thing; let it burn. Let the hands and feet that do not walk Your path wither and drop away, O Ananta. Without You I have no desire to live. Says Tuka, Your name alone is sweet.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The moment my tongue fails to speak your name with love, let it fall off that very instant. Give me this, give me this; I ask nothing else of you. If my ears do not hear your glory, let them go deaf; if my eyes do not see your feet, let them perish. If my mind does not hold your meditation at every hour, then curse that wretched thing; let it burn, let it burn. Let the hands and feet that do not walk your path wither and drop away, Ananta. Without you I have no wish to live. Tuka says: your name alone is sweet.
What it means
This is a vow shaped as a string of curses turned on himself. Tukaram asks for one thing only, the name on his tongue, and stakes each organ of his body on it: a tongue that stops praising should fall off, ears that miss God's glory should go deaf, eyes that do not see the feet should perish, a mind that drops the meditation should burn, hands and feet that leave the path should wither away. The violence is the point. He is declaring that a body kept for anything but God is worthless to him, that life without Vitthal holds no desire for him, and that the Name alone is sweet enough to live for.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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