The Name, genuine coin
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नव्हे मतोळ्याचा वाण । नीच नवा नारायण ॥1॥
सुख उपजे श्रवणें । खरें टांकसाळी नाणें ॥ध्रु.॥
लाभ हातोहातीं । अधिक पुढतोंपुढती ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नेणों किती । पुरोनि उरलें पुढती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The name of Narayana is not some cheap commodity offered by hawkers. It brings joy to the ear; it is genuine currency minted in the Lord's own treasury. The profit is immediate, and it grows ever greater with each exchange. Says Tuka, I cannot tell how much there is; it overflows and still more remains.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This is no cheap stuff sold by a hawker. Narayana is ever fresh, ever new. Joy springs up from the hearing. It is true coin, minted in the Lord's own treasury. The gain is immediate, hand to hand, and it grows greater with each turn. Tuka says: I cannot tell how much there is; it is spent in full and still more remains.
What it means
Tukaram praises the Name of Narayana as wealth of a different order. It is not a peddler's cheap goods but genuine currency struck in God's own mint, and merely hearing it brings joy. Unlike ordinary trade, the profit arrives at once and keeps multiplying with every repetition. He ends in wonder at its abundance: you can spend it without limit, and the supply only overflows, because the Name draws on an inexhaustible treasury.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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