The Name, the names of the good
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
पुण्यवंत व्हावें । घेतां सज्जनांची नांवें ॥१॥
नेघे माझे वाचे तुटी । महा लाभ फुकासाठी ॥ध्रु.॥
विश्रांतीचा ठाव । पायीं संतांचिया भाव ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे जपें । संतांचिया जाती पापें ॥३॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Simply by taking the names of the good, one becomes virtuous. My tongue will not cease from this; it is a great gain gotten free. The feet of the saints are the resting place; devotion there brings peace. Says Tuka, by repeating the names of the saints, sins are destroyed.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
One becomes holy just by taking the names of the good. My tongue will not stop doing it; here is a great gain had for free. The feet of the saints are the resting place; put your trust there. Tuka says: by repeating the saints' names, sins fall away.
What it means
Tukaram makes the practice almost absurdly simple: merely speaking the names of holy people makes a person holy, and since it costs nothing, it is a great gain had for free. He vows his tongue will never cease the practice. The feet of the saints are the one true resting place, and faith should be set there. Repeating their names, he says, is enough to wear sins away.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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