The Name, the body cooled by remembrance
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाम घेतां कंठ शीतळ शरीर । इंिद्रयां व्यापार नाठवती ॥1॥
गोड गोमटें हें अमृतासी वाड । केला कइवाड माझ्या चित्तें ॥ध्रु.॥
प्रेमरसें जाली पुष्ट अंगकांति । त्रिविध सांडिती ताप अंग ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तेथें विकाराची मात । बोलों नये हित सकळांचें ॥3॥ ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
When the Name is on my lips, the body grows cool, and the senses forget their usual occupations. This sweetness surpasses even nectar; my chitta has made a great celebration of it. The glow of my body has grown radiant with the sap of love, and the threefold afflictions have left my being. Says Tuka, in that state, the sway of worldly passions has no voice; this is the true welfare of all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
When the Name is on my lips, my throat goes cool and my body with it. My senses forget their usual business. This is sweet and lovely, greater than nectar; my mind has thrown itself wholly into it. With the sap of love my body has grown radiant, and the threefold suffering has left me. Tuka says: in that state, worldly passion has no voice. This is the true good of everyone.
What it means
Tukaram describes what taking God's Name does to the whole person. The Name brings a coolness that spreads through the body and quiets the senses, which forget their ordinary cravings. He calls it sweeter than nectar, and his mind has plunged into it completely. The fruit is plain: the body glows with the sap of love, the threefold afflictions fall away, and worldly passion has nothing left to say. He ends by widening it past himself: this is not his private experience but the true welfare available to all who take the Name.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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