The Name, the cure laid open
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ज्वरल्यासी काढा औषध पाचन । मूढां नारायण स्मरवितो ॥1॥
भवव्याधि येणें तुटेल रोकडी । करूनियां झाडी निश्चयेसी ॥ध्रु.॥
आणिकां उपायां अनुपान कठिण । भाग्यें बरें सीण शीघ्रवत ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे केला उघडा पसारा । भाग्य आलें घरा दारावरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
To the feverish patient one gives medicine and a healing diet; to the foolish I prescribe the remembrance of Narayana. By this, the disease of worldly existence will be cured at once, when one sweeps everything clean with conviction. Other remedies require harsh regimens; with good fortune, the cure comes swiftly and the suffering ends. Says Tuka, I have laid out my wares in the open; fortune itself has arrived at my door.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
For the feverish patient you give medicine and a healing diet. For the foolish I prescribe the remembrance of Narayana. By this, the disease of worldly existence will be cured right now, when you sweep it all clean with conviction. Other remedies need harsh regimens. With good fortune the cure comes quickly and the suffering ends. Tuka says: I have laid out my wares in the open. Fortune itself has come to my door.
What it means
Tukaram uses the frame of a physician: just as fever calls for medicine and a careful diet, the sickness of worldly bondage has one remedy, the remembrance of Narayana's name. He insists the cure is immediate, not gradual, provided it is done with full conviction that sweeps the heart clean. Against this he sets the harsh, complicated disciplines other paths demand, and says the Name works swiftly where they labor. The closing image is a shopkeeper opening his stall: he has put the remedy out in plain view for anyone, and calls his own good fortune the customer that arrived.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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