The Name, free goods at the bazaar
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भक्तिभाव आह्मी बांधिलासे गांठी । साधावितों हाटीं घ्या रे कोणी ॥1॥
सुखाचिया पेंठे घातला दुकान । मांडियेले वान रामनाम ॥ध्रु.॥
सुखाचें फुकाचें सकळांचें सार । तरावया पार भवसिंधु ॥2॥
मागें भाग्यवंत जाले थोर थोर । तिहीं केला फार हा चि सांटा ॥3॥
खोटें कुडें तेथें नाहीं घातपात । तुका ह्मणे चित्त शुद्ध करीं ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We have tied devotion in a bundle and bring it to the marketplace; take it, whoever will. At the bazaar of happiness, we have set up shop, displaying the wares of Rama's name. It is joyful, it is free, it is the essence of everything, and it ferries you across the ocean of existence. In ages past, great and fortunate souls stored up this very treasure. There is no fraud or deception here. Says Tuka, only purify your chitta.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I have tied up devotion in a bundle. I bring it to the market to sell. Come, anyone, take it. I have opened a shop in the bazaar of happiness. The goods on display are Rama's name. It is full of joy, it costs nothing, it is the essence of everything. It carries you across the ocean of this world. Great and fortunate souls before me stored up this very stock. There is no fraud here, no cheating, no loss. Tuka says: only make your heart pure.
What it means
Tukaram sets up a shop with the strangest stock imaginable: the Name of Rama, given away free. He calls out like a trader, but the goods cost nothing, and they are the essence of all things and the boat across the ocean of birth and death. He points to the great souls of the past to show this is no novelty; they dealt in the same merchandise. Then he names the catch, which is not a price at all: there is no swindle in this trade, no possible loss, so the only thing asked of the buyer is a clean heart.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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