Exhortation, the Name redeems all
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
कां रे तुह्मी निर्मळ हरिगुण गा ना । नाचत आनंदरूप वैकुंठासी जा ना ॥1॥
काय गणिकेच्या याती अधिकार मोटा । दोषी अजामेळ ऐसीं नेलीं वैकुंठा ॥ध्रु.॥
ऐसे नेणों मागें किती अनंत अपार । पंच महादोषी पातकां नाहीं पार ॥2॥
पुत्राचिया लोभें नष्ट म्हणे नारायण । कोण कर्तव्य तुका ह्मणे त्याचें पुण्य॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Why do you not sing the pure glories of Hari and dance your way to Vaikuntha in bliss? Was it not a courtesan and a wrongful wretch like Ajamila who were carried to Vaikuntha? Countless such souls beyond counting, great sinners without measure, have been redeemed before. Out of love for his son, the wretch uttered the name Narayana. Says Tuka, what merit could compare to that?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Why will you not sing the pure praises of Hari and dance your way, full of bliss, to Vaikuntha? Did a courtesan and a sinful wretch like Ajamila not have the greater right? They too were carried to Vaikuntha. We do not know how many countless, measureless souls before them, sinners of the five great sins, beyond all counting, were saved. Out of love for his son, the wretch cried out the name Narayana. Tuka says: what deed of merit could match that?
What it means
Tukaram urges the listener to sing Hari's praises and assures them that no one is too low to be saved. He points to the well-known cases of a courtesan and of Ajamila, who called the Name and were carried to Vaikuntha, as proof that birth and past sin do not bar the door. Countless great sinners before them, he says, have been redeemed the same way. The example of Ajamila, who uttered Narayana only out of love for his son, shows that even a Name spoken almost by accident carries a merit no calculated good deed can match.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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