The Name, the easiest path
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नामसंकीर्तन साधन पैं सोपें । जळतील पापें जन्मांतरें॥1॥
न लगे सायास जावें वनांतरा । सुखें येतो घरा नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
ठायींच बैसोनि करा एकचित्त । आवडी अनंत आळवावा ॥2॥
रामकृष्णहरिविठ्ठलकेशवा । मंत्र हा जपावा सर्वकाळ॥3॥
याहूनि आणीक नाहीं पैं साधन । वाहातसें आण विठोबाची ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे सोपें आहे सर्वांहूनि । शाहाणा तो धणी घेतो येथें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Singing the Name is the easiest of all spiritual practices. The sins of many lifetimes will burn away. There is no need for painful effort or retreat into the forest. Narayana comes happily to your very home. Sit right where you are, focus your mind, and call upon the Infinite One with love. Chant always: Rama, Krishna, Hari, Vitthal, Keshava. There is no other practice beyond this; I swear it by Vitthal. Says Tuka, this is the simplest of all paths. The wise one seizes the opportunity here and now.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Singing the Name is the easy practice. The sins of past births will burn away. You need no hard effort, no going off into the forest. Narayana comes happily to your house. Sit right where you are, gather your mind into one point, and call on the Infinite One with love. Chant always: Rama, Krishna, Hari, Vitthal, Keshava. There is no other practice beyond this; I swear it by Vithoba. Tuka says: this is the simplest of all. The wise one takes his fill here.
What it means
Tukaram lays out singing the Name as the open door that asks for nothing you cannot give. No forest retreat, no painful austerity: you stay where you are, steady the mind, and call on God with love, and the sins of many lifetimes burn off. He even names the chant, Rama, Krishna, Hari, Vitthal, Keshava, so there is no mystery about what to do. The oath he swears by Vithoba is the radical claim: there is no practice higher than this. So the wise person does not wait or wander; he seizes the chance and takes his fill of it now.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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