The Name, the deathbed cry of Ajamila
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आजामेळा अंत मरणासी आला । तोंवरि स्मरला नाहीं तुज ॥1॥
प्राण जातेवेळे ह्मणे नारायण । त्यासाटीं विमान पाठविलें ॥ध्रु.॥
बहुत कृपाळु होसी जगन्नाथा । त्रैलोक्यसमर्था सोइरिया ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भक्तकाज तूं कैवारी । तुज साही चारी वणिनताती ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Ajamila had come to the very brink of death. Until that moment he had never remembered You. At the moment of dying he uttered the name Narayana, and for that alone You sent a celestial chariot to fetch him. Supremely compassionate are You, O Lord of the world, O kinsman mighty over the three realms. Says Tuka, You champion the cause of Your devotees, and all six schools of thought sing of You.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Ajamila came to the very end, to his death. Until then he had never remembered You. As his life was leaving he said Narayana, and for that You sent down a chariot from heaven. You are very merciful, O Lord of the world, kinsman mighty over the three realms. Tuka says: You are the champion of Your devotees' cause, and all six schools and all four sing of You.
What it means
Tukaram uses the story of Ajamila to press how late the Name can come and still work. A man who never once remembered God says Narayana only at the moment of dying, and that single utterance is enough for heaven to send a chariot. The point is the sheer mercy of it: not a lifetime of merit but one true cry at the end. He closes by naming God the champion of His devotees, sung by all the schools, so the hearer understands that no one's case is too late while breath remains for the Name.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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