The Name, the lisping child
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुझें नाम गाया न सोपें डवळा । गाऊं कळवळा प्रेमाचिया ॥1॥
येइल आवडी जैसी अंतरींची । तैसी मनाची कीर्ती गाऊं ॥2॥
माझें मुख नामीं रंगो सर्वकाळ । गोविंद गोपाळ राम कृष्ण ॥3॥
अबद्ध चांगलें गाऊं जैसें तैसें । बाहे बाळ जैसें मायबापा ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे मज न लावीं वांकडें । मी तुझें बोबडें बाळ तान्हें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Singing Your name is not easy for one who is clumsy; I will sing with the earnestness of love. Whatever affection rises from within, with that I will sing from the chitta. May my mouth be ever colored with the name: Govinda, Gopala, Rama, Krishna. Whether my singing is rough or fine, I will sing however I can, like a child babbling to its parents. Says Tuka, do not look upon me crookedly; I am Your lisping infant child.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Singing Your name is not easy for a clumsy one. So I will sing it with the ache of love. Whatever longing rises inside me, with that I will sing Your praise from my heart. Let my mouth be colored with the name always: Govinda, Gopala, Rama, Krishna. Whether it comes out rough or fine, I will sing it however I can, the way a child calls out to its mother and father. Tuka says: do not look on me crookedly. I am Your lisping little baby.
What it means
Tukaram admits he has no skill for singing the Name, so he offers the only thing he has, which is love. He says he will sing from whatever longing rises in him, polished or not, and asks that his mouth never lose the color of the Name. The governing image is a small child babbling to its parents: the words do not need to be correct, because a parent does not judge an infant's speech. So he asks God not to look at him crookedly, not to weigh the quality of his song, but to receive it as a mother and father receive a lisping baby.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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