The Name, love between child and Father
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मां आवडे नाम घेतां । तो ही पिता संतोषे ॥1॥
उभयतां एकचित्त । तरी प्रीत वाढली ॥ध्रु.॥
आह्मी शोभों निकटवासें। अनारिसें न दिसे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे पांडुरंगे । अवघीं अंगें निवालीं॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We delight in taking His name, and our Father too is pleased. When both chittas are of one mind, love flourishes. We shine in His close presence; no difference can be seen between us. Says Tuka, Panduranga has cooled and soothed every part of our being.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We love to take his name, and our Father too is glad of it. When both are of one mind, the love between them grows. We are made beautiful by living close to him; no difference can be seen between us. Tuka says: Panduranga has cooled and soothed every part of us.
What it means
Tukaram describes the Name as a bond of love running both ways, between the devotee and God as child and Father. The devotee delights in saying the Name, and the Father delights to hear it, and when both hearts beat as one the love only deepens. From that closeness comes a startling claim: living near him, the devotee grows so like him that no difference can be seen between them. The poem ends in pure relief, Panduranga having cooled and soothed every part of his being.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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