The Name, kirtan as a war march
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जळती कीर्तनें दोष पळतील विघ्नें ॥1॥
हें चि बिळवंत गाढें । आनंद करूं दिंडीपुढें ॥ध्रु.॥
किळ पापाची हे मूतिन। नामखड्ग घेऊं हातीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जाऊं । बळें दमामे ही लावूं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Through kirtan, sins are burned and obstacles flee. This is the mightiest fortress of all. Let us rejoice and march in procession before the dindi. Sin is the enemy in bodily form; let us take the sword of the Name in our hands. Says Tuka, let us go forth boldly and sound the drums of triumph.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Kirtan burns sins; the obstacles flee. This is the mightiest fortress of all. Let us rejoice and march in front of the dindi. Sin is the enemy in bodily shape; let us take the sword of the Name in our hands. Tuka says: let us go forth boldly and sound the drums of triumph.
What it means
Tukaram turns the devotional procession into a battle. Kirtan burns away sins and scatters every obstacle, so the singing band is itself the strongest fortress one could stand inside. He calls the company to rejoice and march at the head of the dindi, the pilgrim procession, as if to war. Sin is named the enemy in bodily form, and the Name is the sword carried in hand. The closing line is a war cry: go out boldly and beat the drums of victory, treating devotion not as retreat from the world but as an advance against what enslaves it.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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