The Name, the only practice
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हरी तुझें नाम गाईन अखंड । याविण पाखंड नेणें कांहीं ॥1॥
तुका ह्मणे आतां देई संतसंग । तुझे नामीं रंग भरो मना॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I will sing Your name unceasingly, O Hari. Beyond this, I know no other practice. Says Tuka, grant me now the company of saints, and let my mind be dyed in the color of Your name.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Hari, I will sing Your name without stopping. Apart from this, I know no other way. Tuka says: now give me the company of the saints. Let my mind be dyed in the color of Your name.
What it means
Tukaram declares that singing the Name is the one practice he knows, and he calls everything else mere pretense. Then he names what he needs to keep it up: the company of the saints. The closing image is of cloth taking dye, and he asks that his mind soak up the color of the Name the same way, all the way through. Singing, satsang, and a mind fully steeped in God are bound together as one path.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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