The Name, poison turns to nectar
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
वाटीभर विष दिलें प्रल्हादासी । निर्भय मानसीं तुझ्याबळें ॥1॥
भोक्ता नारायण केलें तें प्राशन । प्रतापें जीवन जालें तुझ्या ॥ध्रु.॥
नामाच्या चिंतनें विषाचें तें आप । जाहालें देखत नारायणा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे ऐसे तुझे बडिवार । सिणला फणीवर वर्णवेना ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
A cup full of poison was given to Prahlada, but his mind was fearless by Your strength. O Narayana, he drank what was offered, and by Your power it became life-giving nectar. Through remembrance of the Name, the poison was transformed into water before everyone's eyes. Says Tuka, such are Your wondrous glories that even the thousand-hooded serpent grows weary and cannot describe them all.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
A cup full of poison was given to Prahlada. His mind was fearless, by Your strength. O Narayana, he drank what was offered, and by Your power it became life. By thinking on the Name, the poison turned to water before everyone's eyes, O Narayana. Tuka says: such is Your greatness that even the hooded serpent grows weary and cannot tell it all.
What it means
Tukaram takes the poisoning of Prahlada to show what holding the Name does inside a person under attack. The boy is fearless not by his own nerve but by the Lord's strength, and the poison he drinks turns to life-giving water in plain sight. The unspoken frame is the poison handed to any devotee: fear, threat, the world's malice. Remembrance of the Name changes its nature before it can do its work. Tuka ends as he often does, owning that the Lord's greatness exceeds all telling; even the thousand-hooded serpent tires before he can finish.
Sacred Stories
Abhangas drawing on mythological narratives to illuminate spiritual truths.
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