The Name, kicking aside liberation
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मीं नामाचें धारक नेणों प्रकार आणीक । सर्व भावें एक विठ्ठल चि प्रमाण ॥1॥
न लगे जाणावें नेणावें गावें आनंदें नाचावें । प्रेमसुख घ्यावें वैष्णवांचे संगती ॥ध्रु.॥
भावबळें घालूं कास लज्जा चिंता दवडूं आस । पायीं निजध्यास ह्मणों दास विष्णूचे ॥2॥
भय नाहीं जन्म घेतां मोक्षपदा हाणों लाता । तुका ह्मणे सत्ता धरूं निकट सेवेची ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We are bearers of the Name; we know no other practice. With all our being, Vitthal alone is our authority. There is nothing to learn or unlearn; simply sing and dance in joy. Take the bliss of love in the company of Vaishnavas. With the strength of faith, gird your loins; cast away shame and idle worry. Keep your devotion fixed on His feet and call yourselves servants of Vishnu. Says Tuka, there is no fear in taking birth again; we kick the seat of liberation aside and hold fast to the privilege of near service.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We are bearers of the Name. We know no other practice. With our whole heart, Vitthal alone is our authority. There is nothing to learn, nothing to unlearn. Just sing, just dance in joy. Take the bliss of love in the company of the Vaishnavas. With the strength of faith we gird our loins. We throw off shame and worry and hope. We fix our minds on His feet and call ourselves servants of Vishnu. We have no fear of taking birth again. We kick aside the seat of liberation. Tuka says: we hold fast to the privilege of close service.
What it means
Speaking for the whole company of devotees, Tukaram describes a way of life that has stripped religion down to one thing: carrying the Name, with Vitthal as the only authority they recognize. They claim no doctrine to master and nothing to unlearn; the practice is to sing and dance in joy and to drink the love that flows in the gathering of the Vaishnavas. Bracing themselves with faith, they throw off the three things that usually rule people, shame before others, anxiety, and even hope, and simply call themselves servants. The most radical turn comes at the end: they are not afraid of being born again, and they actually kick aside the throne of liberation, the goal every other path chases. What they want instead is the nearness of serving God forever, and they value that closeness above release itself.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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