The Name as our only wealth
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मां हें चि भांडवल । ह्मणों विठ्ठल विठ्ठल ॥1॥
सुखें तरों भवनदी । संग वैष्णवांची मांदी ॥ध्रु.॥
बाखराचें वाण। सांडूं हें जेवूं जेवण ॥2॥
न लगे वारंवार । तुका ह्मणे वेरझार ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Our only capital is to say Vitthal, Vitthal. We will cross the river of worldly existence in bliss, surrounded by the company of the Vaishnavas. Let us set aside the stale fare and eat this true feast. Says Tuka, there is no need to keep going back and forth.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This is our only capital: to say Vitthal, Vitthal. We will cross the river of worldly life in joy, in the crowd of the Vaishnavas. Let us throw away the stale food and eat this true meal. Tuka says: there is no need to keep going back and forth again and again.
What it means
Tukaram says the devotees own nothing else worth counting; the one wealth they trade on is the Name, Vitthal. With that and the company of fellow Vaishnavas they cross the river of birth and death gladly rather than in fear. He contrasts two foods: the stale fare of worldly pursuits and the true feast of the Name, and tells us to drop the first for the second. The last line names the stakes, that this meal ends the endless coming and going, the rounds of birth, with no need to repeat the journey.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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