The Name in song, plain and tender
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
उमटती वाणी । वाटे नामाचिया ध्वनी ॥1॥
बरें सेवन उपकारा । द्यावें द्यावें या उत्तरा ॥ध्रु.॥
सरळ आणि मृद । कथा पाहावी तें उर्ध ॥2॥
गात जात तुका । हा चि उपदेश आइका॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Words arise bearing the sound of the Name. This beneficial service should be offered generously, again and again. The story should be seen as straightforward, gentle, and uplifting. Says Tuka, as I go about singing, listen to this one teaching.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Words rise up. They seem to carry the sound of the Name. Such service does good; offer these words, offer them again. Let the telling be straight and gentle, and let it lift the heart upward. Tuka says: as I go along singing, listen to this one teaching.
What it means
Tukaram is describing what good speech about God should sound like. When words rise truly, they carry the ring of the Name in them, and to offer such words again and again is a service that benefits all who hear. He names the marks of it: the telling should be straightforward and gentle, and it should raise the listener rather than impress them. As he sings his way along, he asks people to take in this single teaching about how the holy story should be spoken.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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