The Name, crying to the Mother for her gift
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करीन कोल्हाळ । आतां हा चि सर्वकाळ ॥1॥
आतां ये वो माझे आई । देई भातुकें विठाई ॥ध्रु.॥
उपायासी नाम। दिलें याचें पुढें क्षेम ॥2॥
बीज आणि फळ । हें चि तुका ह्मणे मूळ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I will raise a clamor at all times from this day forward. Come now, O my Mother Vithai, and give me my gift. The name is given as the remedy; its fulfillment lies ahead. Says Tuka, the name is both the seed and the fruit; it is the root of everything.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I will keep up my clamor, from now on, all the time. Come now, my Mother Vithai, and give me my little gift. The Name was given as the remedy; its safe reward lies ahead. Tuka says: the Name is the seed and the fruit; it is the root of everything.
What it means
Tukaram takes the posture of a child who will not stop crying until it is fed, and addresses God as the Mother Vithai who must hand over the treat. The clamor is the practice itself: ceaseless calling on the Name, refusing to be quieted. He understands the Name as the medicine he has been given, with its full reward still ahead. The closing lines tell why he stakes everything on it: the Name is at once seed, fruit, and root, the means, the goal, and the ground beneath both.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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