The Name, soldiers of Hari
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आह्मी हरिचे हरिचे । सुर किळकाळा यमाचे ॥1॥
नामघोष बाण साचे । भाले तुळसी मंजुरेचे ॥ध्रु.॥
आह्मी हरिचे हरिचे दास । कलिकाळावरि घालूं कास ॥2॥
आह्मी हरिचे हरिचे दूत । पुढें पळती यमदूत ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मांवरी । सुदर्शन घरटी करी ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
We are Hari's own, we are Hari's own. We are warriors against the power of death and time. Our arrows are the true chanting of the Name, and our spears are the sprigs of tulsi. We are Hari's own, we are Hari's servants. We gird ourselves against the dark age. We are Hari's own, we are Hari's messengers. Even the servants of Yama flee before us. Says Tuka, above us the Sudarshana disc keeps its protective watch.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
We are Hari's, we are Hari's. We are warriors against death and time. Our true arrows are the loud chanting of the Name. Our spears are sprigs of tulsi. We are Hari's, we are Hari's servants. We gird ourselves against the dark age. We are Hari's, we are Hari's messengers. The messengers of Yama flee before us. Tuka says: above us the Sudarshana disc keeps its guard.
What it means
Tukaram sings the war song of those who belong wholly to Hari, calling them soldiers ranged against death and the grind of time. Their weapons turn the martial image tender: arrows are the ringing chant of the Name, spears are sprigs of tulsi, the leaf of devotion. Declaring themselves Hari's servants and messengers, they tighten their belts to fight the corruptions of the Kali age. The triumph is that Yama's own agents, the bringers of death, run away before them, and Krishna's Sudarshana disc circles overhead as their protection. To take the Name is to be unassailable.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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