The Name, no fear of death
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जन्ममरणांची कायसी चिंता । तुझ्या शरणागतां पंढरीराया ॥1॥
वदनीं तुझें नाम अमृतसंजीवनी । असतां चक्रपाणी भय कवणा ॥ध्रु.॥
हृदयीं तुझें रूप बिंबलें साकार । तेथें कोण पार संसाराचा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे तुझ्या चरणांची पाखर । असतां किळकाळ पायां तळीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What worry of birth and death for those who have surrendered to You, O King of Pandhari? With Your name on the tongue, that nectar of immortality, who can fear anything, O Lord who holds the discus? Your form is imprinted upon the heart in full; what power does worldly life hold there? Says Tuka, with the shelter of Your feet as our shield, time and death lie crushed beneath us.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What worry of birth and death is there for those who have surrendered to you, King of Pandhari? With your name on the tongue, that nectar that brings life back, who can fear anything, Lord who holds the discus? Your form is stamped on the heart, whole and clear. What hold does the world have there? Tuka says: with the shelter of your feet as our shield, time and death lie crushed beneath us.
What it means
Tukaram tells the surrendered soul it has nothing left to fear. Once you have given yourself to the King of Pandhari, the old dread of being born and dying again loses its grip. The Name on the tongue is a reviving nectar, and God's form pressed into the heart leaves no room for worldly fear to take hold. He ends with a startling reversal of the usual order: death and time, which crush everyone, are themselves crushed underfoot, because the devotee stands in the shelter of God's feet.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
More in this theme →