The Name, mercy without limit
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
करुणा बहुत तुझिया अंतरा । मज विश्वंभरा कळों आलें ॥1॥
पक्षीयासी तुझें नाम जें ठेविलें । तयें उद्धरिलें गणिकेसी॥ध्रु.॥
कुंटिणी ते दोष बहु आचरली । नाम घेतां आली करुणा तुज ॥2॥
हृदय कोमळ तुझें नारायणा । ऐसें बहुता जनां तारियेलें ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे सीमा नाहीं तुझे दये । कोमळ हृदय पांडुरंगा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Great is the compassion within Your chitta, O Vishvambhara. This has become clear to me. You gave Your own name to a bird, and through that name You delivered even a courtesan. That woman had committed countless sins, yet when she uttered the Name, compassion stirred within You. Your chitta is tender, O Narayana. In this way You have saved many souls. Says Tuka, there is no limit to Your mercy. Your chitta is soft, O Panduranga.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
There is great compassion within You, O Vishvambhara. This has become clear to me. The name You placed in a bird was the same name that lifted a courtesan. That harlot had done many sins, yet when she spoke the Name compassion stirred in You. Your heart is tender, O Narayana. In this way You have saved many people. Tuka says: there is no limit to Your mercy. Your heart is soft, Panduranga.
What it means
Tukaram is marveling at how cheaply, and how completely, God's mercy is moved. He stacks the unlikeliest cases: a bird taught a name, a courtesan heavy with sin, both lifted the moment the Name is spoken. The lesson is that it is not the speaker's worth but the softness of God's heart that does the saving, and that heart answers the Name without weighing the record behind it. He ends where he began, on the limitlessness of that mercy, so the listener hears the invitation: if she could be saved, so can you.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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