The Name, the cure that ends all affliction
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नारायणा ऐसा । सेवूं नेणतील रसा ॥1॥
जेणें भवव्याध तुटे । दुःख मागुतें न भेटे ॥ध्रु.॥
न लगे कांहीं आटी । बाधा राहों न सके पोटीं ॥2॥
कैवल्य तें जोडे । पालट लवकरी घडे ॥3॥
जन्ममरणदुःख अटे । जाळें अवघेंचि तुटे ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे जाला । याचा गुण बहुतांला ॥5॥
अनेक दोषांचे काट । जे जे गादले निघोंट ।
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Those who do not know how to taste the essence of Narayana miss the cure that ends all worldly affliction, so that suffering never returns. No great struggle is needed, for no harm can remain inside. Liberation itself is won, and the transformation happens swiftly. The sorrow of birth and death ceases, and every snare is torn apart. Says Tuka, this remedy has blessed many. All the thorns of countless faults are swept clean away.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Those who do not know how to taste the essence of Narayana miss it. By it the disease of worldly life is cut, and suffering does not come back. No great struggle is needed; no harm can stay inside. Liberation itself is won, and the change comes quickly. The sorrow of birth and death wears away, and the whole net is torn apart. Tuka says: this has helped many. All the thorns of countless faults are swept clean away.
What it means
Tukaram is praising the Name of Narayana as a remedy and naming exactly what it does. He calls worldly existence a disease, and the Name the medicine that cuts it so that suffering never returns. What he stresses is how little effort it asks: no harsh austerity, no long struggle, yet the change comes swiftly, liberation is won, and the whole snare of birth and death falls apart. The radical claim is that no fault is too great for it; countless sins, like thorns, are swept away, and many have already proved this.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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