The Name as wealth, three syllables
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पिकवावें धन । ज्याची आस करी जन ॥1॥
पुरोनि उरे खातां देतां । नव्हे खंडन मवितां ॥ध्रु.॥
खोलीं पडे ओली बीज। तरीं च हाता लागे निज ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे धणी । विठ्ठल अक्षरें या तिन्ही ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Cultivate the wealth that everyone longs for, wealth that remains abundant no matter how much is given or spent, that never diminishes or decays. When a seed falls into moist earth, only then does the true harvest come to hand. Says Tuka, the master of all this is Vitthal, contained in those three sacred syllables.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Grow the wealth that everyone longs for. It stays full as you eat from it and give it away. It is never cut short, however much you measure out. When the moist seed falls deep into the ground, only then does your own harvest come to your hand. Tuka says: the master of it is Vitthal, those three syllables.
What it means
Tukaram offers a crop worth raising: the one wealth everybody secretly wants. Unlike money, it grows fuller the more you spend and share, and no measuring ever diminishes it. He gives the farmer's image: the seed must fall deep into moist earth before any true harvest reaches your own hand, so the Name must be sown inwardly, not held on the surface. The whole treasure, he says, is owned by Vitthal, held in those three sacred syllables of the name itself.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
More in this theme →