The Name, the simple way
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पाहों ग्रंथ तरी आयुष्य नाहीं हातीं । नाहीं ऐशी मति अर्थ कळे ॥1॥
होईल तें हो या विठोबाच्या नांवें । आचरलें भावें जीवीं धरूं ॥ध्रु.॥
एखादा अंगासी येईल प्रकार । विचारितां फार युक्ति वाढे ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आळी करितां गोमटी । मायबापा पोटीं येते दया ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
If I try to study the scriptures, life is too short. I lack the intellect to grasp their meaning. Let whatever must happen happen in Vithoba's Name; I will hold in my chitta whatever my conduct has earned. If some particular practice takes hold in the body, the more you analyze it, the more techniques multiply. Says Tuka, when a child pleads sweetly, the parents' chittas are moved to compassion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
If I try to study the scriptures, life is too short to finish them. I do not have the mind to grasp their meaning. Let whatever must happen happen in Vithoba's Name. I will hold in my heart only what my own conduct has earned. If some practice takes hold in the body, the more you analyze it, the more methods keep multiplying. Tuka says: when a child pleads sweetly, the parents' hearts fill with pity.
What it means
Tukaram sets aside the scholar's path as too long and too hard for him: a short life and a plain mind cannot master the texts. So he stakes everything on Vithoba's Name instead, willing to live with whatever his own conduct has truly earned. He notices a trap in the learned approach, that the more you analyze practice, the more techniques pile up without end. Against all that he sets one homely image: the Name is like a child crying sweetly to its parents, and the parents' hearts cannot help but melt. Simple, trusting appeal moves God more than endless study.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
More in this theme →