The Name, the dissolving of self
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करूंनियां शुद्ध मन । नारायण स्मरावा ॥1॥
तरीच हा तरिजे सिंधु । भवबंधू तोडोनिया ॥ध्रु.॥
तेथे सरे शुद्ध साचें । अंतरींचे बीज तें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे लवणकळी । पडतां जळीं तें होय ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Purify the mind and remember Narayana. Only then can you cross this ocean of existence, cutting through the bonds of worldly life. What works there is what is pure and true, the inner seed of sincerity. Says Tuka, when a lump of salt falls into water, it becomes the water itself.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Make the mind pure. Remember Narayana. Only then do you cross this ocean. Only then are the bonds of worldly life cut. What counts there is what is truly pure: the inner seed of sincerity. Tuka says: a lump of salt, falling into water, becomes the water itself.
What it means
Tukaram names the single condition for crossing the ocean of birth and death: a mind made pure, holding the Name of Narayana. The remembering is what cuts the bonds, but only purity and an honest inner seed make the remembering real. His closing image is severe and exact. The salt that falls into water does not float there as itself; it dissolves and becomes water. So the one who truly remembers does not keep a separate self alongside God; the self is undone into what it sought.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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