The Name, the Guru's easy mantra
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
माझिये मनींचा जाणोनियां भाव । तो करी उपाव गुरुराजा ॥१॥
आवडीचा मंत्र सांगितला सोपा । जेणें गुंपा कांहीं कोठें ॥ध्रु.॥
जाती पुढें एक उतरले पार । हा भवसागर साधुसंत ॥२॥
जाणत्या नेणत्या ज्या जैसी आवडी । उतार सांगडी तापे पेटीं ॥३॥
तुका म्हणे मज दावियेला तारू । कृपेचा सागरु पांडुरंग ॥४॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Knowing the longing in my mind, my Guru devised a remedy. He gave me a beloved mantra, so easy that there is no obstacle anywhere. Some go ahead and cross to the other shore: the saints are the way across this ocean of existence. For the knowing and the unknowing alike, whatever their heart desires, there are rafts, boats, and planks to carry them over. Says Tuka, he showed me the vessel, the ocean of mercy, Panduranga.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Knowing the longing in my mind, my Guru-king made a remedy. He gave me a beloved mantra, so easy that there is no snag anywhere. Some go ahead and cross to the far shore: the saints are the way across this ocean of being. For the wise and the simple alike, whatever each one's heart desires, there are rafts and boats and planks to carry them over the heat. Tuka says: he showed me the vessel, the ocean of mercy, Panduranga.
What it means
Tukaram is praising the simplicity of the path his Guru handed him. The Guru read the exact longing in his heart and answered it with one easy mantra, a remedy with no catch in it. The world is an ocean to be crossed, and the saints are the crossing itself; whether a person is learned or unlettered, there is some craft fitted to them, a raft or plank for every kind of soul. The point is that the way over is not reserved for the clever. Tukaram ends by naming his own vessel: Panduranga, the very ocean of mercy that carries him.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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