The Name, sin burned in an instant
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय करिती केलीं नित्य पापें । वसे नाम ज्यापें विठोबाचें ॥1॥
तृणीं हुताशन लागला ते रासी । जळतील तैसीं क्षणमात्रें ॥ध्रु.॥
विष्णुमूतिनपाद पाहतां चरण । तेथें कर्म कोण राहूं शके ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे नाम जाळी महादोष । जेथें होय घोष कीर्तनाचा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What can accumulated sins do to one in whose chitta dwells the name of Vithoba? As fire set to a heap of straw burns it all in an instant, so does the Name consume all sins. When one beholds the feet of the Lord, what karma can remain standing? Says Tuka, the Name burns away the greatest transgressions wherever the sound of kirtan resounds.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What can a lifetime of daily sins do to one in whose heart the name of Vithoba lives? Fire set to a heap of straw: it all burns in a moment. So do the sins burn. When you look upon the feet of Vishnu's form, what karma can keep standing there? Tuka says: the Name burns away the greatest sins wherever the sound of kirtan rises.
What it means
Tukaram answers a fear directly: heaped-up sin has no power over the one who carries Vithoba's name in the heart. His image is total and quick, a flame in dry straw that leaves nothing behind in an instant. He grounds this in seeing God's feet, before which no accumulated karma can stand its ground. The claim is deliberately large: not that the Name lessens sin but that it consumes even the gravest, and the place where this happens is the loud, communal kirtan, not private penance.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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