The Name, the unreachable opened
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
न कळे तें कळों येईल उगलें । नामें या विठ्ठलें एकाचिया ॥1॥
न दिसे तें दिसों येईल उगलें । नामें या विठ्ठलें एकाचिया ॥ध्रु.॥
न बोलों तें बोलों येईल उगलें । नामें या विठ्ठलें एकाचिया ॥2॥
न भेटे तें भेटों येईल आपण । करितां चिंतन विठोबाचें ॥3॥
अलभ्य तो लाभ होईल अपार । नाम निरंतर ह्मणतां वाचे ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आसक्त जीव सर्वभावें । तरतील नांवें विठोबाच्या ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What could not be known will become known effortlessly, through Vitthal's Name alone. What could not be seen will become visible, through Vitthal's Name alone. What could not be spoken will find expression, through Vitthal's Name alone. What could not be met will come of its own accord, through the contemplation of Vithoba. The gain that seemed impossible will be attained beyond all measure, by chanting the Name ceaselessly. Says Tuka, those who devote their whole being to God will be carried across by the Name of Vithoba.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What cannot be known will come to be known, easily, through the one Name of Vitthal. What cannot be seen will come into sight, through the one Name of Vitthal. What cannot be spoken will find its words, through the one Name of Vitthal. What cannot be met will come to you of its own accord, when you hold Vithoba in mind. The gain that seemed impossible will be yours beyond all measure, by saying the Name without ceasing. Tuka says: souls who give their whole being to God will be carried across by the Name of Vithoba.
What it means
A litany of the Name's power, built on a single repeated turn: each thing that is beyond reach, beyond knowing, seeing, speaking, meeting, is opened by Vitthal's Name alone. Tukaram is not promising magic but pointing to how the Name dissolves the very limits that block the soul, and does so effortlessly, of its own accord, rather than by strain. The unreachable becomes reachable, and the impossible gain comes beyond all measure. The condition in the last line is the whole of it: the Name carries across those who give it their whole being. Half-hearted repetition is not what he means; total devotion to the Name is.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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