The Name, the lame made to walk
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हे चि भेटी साच रूपाचा आठव । विसावला जीव आवडीपें ॥1॥
सुखाचें भातुकें करावें जतन । सेविल्या ताहान भूक जाय ॥ध्रु.॥
दुरील जवळी आपण चि होतें । कविळलें चित्तें जिवापासीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाम घेतों वेळोवेळां । होतील सकळा शीतळा नाडी ॥3॥
साळुंकी मंजूळ बोलतसे वाणी । शिकविता धणी वेगळाची ॥ध्रु.॥
काय म्यां पामरें बोलावीं उत्तरें । परि त्या विश्वंभरें बोलविलें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे त्याची कोण जाणे कळा । चालवी पांगळा पायांविण ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The true meeting is the remembrance of His form; the jiva has found its rest in that love. Guard this treasure of joy carefully; partaking of it, both hunger and thirst vanish. What seemed far away drew near of its own accord; the chitta embraced the jiva from within. Says Tuka, I take the Name again and again, and all my pulses become cool and calm. A starling sings in a sweet voice, yet the one who taught it stands apart. What words can a wretch like me utter? Yet the Lord of the universe has made me speak. Says Tuka, who can know His art? He makes the lame walk without legs.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This is the true meeting: the remembrance of His form. In that love the jiva has found its rest. Guard this treasure of joy with care. Taste it, and hunger and thirst both go. What was far off drew near on its own. The mind embraced the life within. Tuka says: I take the Name again and again, and all my pulses turn cool and calm. The starling sings in a sweet voice, but the master who taught it stands apart. What words could a wretch like me speak? Yet the Lord of the universe has made me speak them. Tuka says: who can know His art? He makes the lame walk without legs.
What it means
Tukaram says the real meeting with God is not a vision but the steady remembrance of His form, and in that love the soul finally rests. He calls this remembrance a treasure to be guarded, one that quiets even hunger and thirst. What had seemed distant comes close by itself, and taking the Name over and over leaves him cooled and still in body and mind. Then he points away from himself: a sweet-voiced starling only repeats what its master taught, and likewise his own words are not his but spoken through him by the Lord of the universe. The closing image names the wonder of that art: God makes the lame walk without legs, doing through a helpless instrument what the instrument could never do on its own.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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