The Name, even backward it saves
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझिया नामाचा विसर न पडावा । ध्यानीं तो राहावा पांडुरंग ॥1॥
उफराटें नाम वाल्मीक बोलीला । तो ही वंद्य केला नारायणें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे मज तुझा चि भरवसा । धांवुनियां कैसा येसी देवा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
May I never forget Your name; may Panduranga remain ever in my meditation. Valmiki chanted the name in reverse, yet even he was honored by Narayana. Says Tuka, my trust is in You alone. How swiftly You come running to my aid, O Lord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let me never forget your name; let Panduranga stay in my meditation. Valmiki spoke the name backward, and even him Narayana made worthy of honor. Tuka says: my trust is in you alone. How quickly you come running, my God.
What it means
Tukaram prays first for one thing, that he never lose hold of the Name and that Vitthal stay fixed in his attention. Then he gives his reason: the Name is so powerful that even spoken backward it lifted Valmiki, the hunter, into a saint whom God himself honored. If the Name works even said wrong, then the saint's trust in it can be total. The closing line catches the surprise of grace: he leans on God alone, and God comes running before he can finish.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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