The Name, kirtan is everything
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
बरवें माझ्या केलें मनें । पंथें येणें निघालें ॥1॥
अभयें च जावें ठाया । देवराया प्रतापें ॥ध्रु.॥
साधनाचा न लगे पांग । अवघें सांग कीर्तन ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सत्ता थोरी । कोण करी खोळंबा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
My mind has done well in setting out on this path. By the might of the Lord, one may go fearlessly to that place. No elaborate spiritual practice is required; kirtan is everything. Says Tuka, so great is His power. Who can cause any delay?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
My mind did well to set out on this path. By the Lord's power one can go to that place without fear. No elaborate practice is needed. Kirtan is the whole of it. Tuka says: so great is His power, who could ever hold me back?
What it means
Tukaram praises his own mind for choosing this road and says the journey can be made without fear because the strength is the Lord's, not his. His central claim is deliberately plain and radical: the heavy apparatus of spiritual technique is not required, singing God's praises is the entire path. He grounds this in God's power rather than the seeker's skill. And if that power is carrying you, he ends, no obstacle has the strength to cause delay.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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