The Name, God stands in the telling
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कथा देवाचें ध्यान । कथा साधना मंडण । कथे ऐसें पुण्य आणीक नाहीं सर्वथा ॥1॥
ऐसा साच खरा भाव । कथेमाजी उभा देव ॥ध्रु.॥
मंत्र स्वल्प जना उच्चारितां वाचे मना । म्हणतां नारायणा क्षणें जळती महा दोष ॥2॥
भावें करितां कीर्तन तरे तारी आणीक जन । भेटे नारायण संदेह नाहीं ह्मणे तुका ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Katha is meditation on God. Katha is the adornment of all spiritual practice. There is no merit anywhere that compares with the merit of katha. Such is the true and honest reality: God stands present in the midst of katha. Even a small mantra, when uttered by the tongue and mind, when one says 'Narayana,' burns away great sins in an instant. Says Tuka, when kirtan is performed with devotion, it saves the performer and saves others too. Narayana is met; there is no doubt about it.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The telling of God's story is meditation on God. It is the ornament of all practice. There is no merit anywhere that equals it. This is the true and honest fact: God stands present in the midst of the story. Even a small mantra, when the tongue and mind say 'Narayana,' burns great sins away in a moment. Tuka says: kirtan done with love saves the one who does it and saves others too. Narayana is met; there is no doubt of it.
What it means
Tukaram raises katha, the telling of God's story, above every other practice. To recite the story is itself meditation on God and the adornment of all sadhana, with no merit anywhere to match it, because God does not merely listen from far off; he stands present where the story is told. Even a brief utterance of 'Narayana,' said with tongue and mind together, burns away great sins in an instant. And kirtan done with real love is not a private gain: it carries across, saving the singer and the listeners alike, until Narayana himself is met.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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