The Name, a world where chanting reigns
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
ब्रह्मज्ञान जेथें आहे घरोघरीं । सर्व निरंतरी चतुर्भुज॥1॥
पापा नाहीं रीग काळाचें खंडण । हरिनामकीर्तन परोपरी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हा चि भाव माझ्या चित्तीं । नाहीं आणिकां गती चाड मज॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Where the knowledge of Brahman is in every home, all are like four-armed Vishnu at all times. Sin has no entry, and the power of death is broken, for the chanting of Hari's name resounds everywhere. Says Tuka, this alone is the conviction of my chitta. I have no desire for any other path.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Where the knowledge of Brahman is in every house, all of them, always, are like four-armed Vishnu. Sin has no way in, and the power of death is broken, for the kirtan of Hari's name sounds everywhere, in every way. Tuka says: this alone is the faith in my heart. I have no longing for any other way out.
What it means
Tukaram imagines a whole world soaked in the knowledge of Brahman, where every household holds it and every person stands as good as four-armed Vishnu. In such a place sin finds no doorway and even death's power is broken, simply because the Name of Hari is being sung everywhere without pause. The Name is treated not as one practice among many but as the force that remakes the world. He closes by claiming this conviction as the single faith of his heart, and refusing any desire for another path to liberation.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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