The Name, grace that cools and frees
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मरोनि जाईन गुणनामावरूनि । तुझ्या चक्रपाणी मायबापा ॥1॥
चुकविलीं दुःखें मायेचा वोळसा । तोडोनियां आशापाश तेणें ॥ध्रु.॥
केली काया तनु हिंवसी शीतळ । चिंतातळमळ नाहीं ऐसी ॥2॥
काळें तोंड काळ करूनि राहिलें । भूतमात्र जालें सज्जनसखें ॥3॥
तुकयाबंधु ह्मणें अवघ्या देशदिशा । मुक्त रे परेशा तुझ्या पुण्यें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I will die upon Your blessed Name and qualities, O Lord, my Mother and Father. The grip of illusion has been broken; the snares of desire have been cut through by this grace. This body has been made cool and calm, free from the burning of anxiety. Death itself has turned away with a blackened face, and all beings have become friendly companions. Says Tukya-bandhu, by Your merit, O Supreme Lord, all directions stand liberated.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I will die upon your Name and your praises, O Lord who holds the discus, my mother and father. The grip of illusion is undone; its snares of desire are cut by that grace. This body has been made cool and calm, with no burning of anxiety left in it. Death has turned away with a blackened face; every creature has become a friendly companion. Tukya-bandhu says: by your goodness, O Supreme Lord, every land and every direction stands set free.
What it means
The poet gives his death itself over to the Name: he will die singing God's qualities, and on the way the Name has already done its work. Maya's grip is broken and the cords of desire are cut, so the body that once burned with anxiety is now cool and still. Death has been faced down and slinks away ashamed, and where there was fear of others, all beings now feel like friends. Tukya-bandhu widens this to the whole world: by God's grace, freedom spreads to every direction. Calling the Lord both mother and father marks the grace as wholly tender, not earned but given.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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