The Name, the tongue cannot stop
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जिव्हे जाला चळ । नेये अवसान ते पळ ॥1॥
हें चि वोसनावोनी उठी । देव सांटविला पोटीं ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं ओढा वारा। पडिला प्रसंग तो बरा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे जाली । मज हे अनावर बोली ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My tongue has become restless; not a moment passes without utterance. I rise calling out to God and store Him within my chitta. There is no pull of wind or current; whatever occasion arises is good. Says Tuka, this speech of mine has become utterly uncontrollable.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My tongue has grown restless; the moment will not let go. With this very thing I rise up overflowing, having stored God inside me. There is no pull of wind or current; whatever the occasion, it is good. Tuka says: this speech of mine has become more than I can hold back.
What it means
Tukaram is describing the Name taking over the body. His tongue has become restless, unable to let a moment pass without uttering it, and he rises up brimming because God is now stored within. He says there is no outer push at work, no wind or tide; the impulse comes from inside, so any occasion at all is the right occasion to speak the Name. The closing line is almost a confession of helplessness: this speech has passed beyond his control. What the poem celebrates is exactly that loss of control, the Name speaking itself through him.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
More in this theme →