Exhortation, hold the Name now
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सारासार विचार करा उठाउठी । नाम धरा कंठीं विठोबाचें ॥1॥
तयाच्या चिंतनें निरसलें संकट । तरलों दुर्घट भवसिंधु ॥ध्रु.॥
जन्मोनियां कुळीं वाचे स्मरे राम । धरी हा चि नेम अहिनिनशीं ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे कोटी कुळें तीं पुनीत । भावें गातां गीत विठोबाचे ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Make haste and discern the real from the unreal. Hold the name of Vithoba at your throat. By contemplating Him, every calamity dissolves, and the impassable ocean of worldly existence is crossed. Having been born in a human family, let the tongue remember Rama; make this your firm resolve, day and night. Says Tuka, millions of families are purified when one sings the songs of Vithoba with true feeling.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Make haste; weigh the real against the unreal. Hold the name of Vithoba at your throat. By remembering Him, every danger dissolves, and the hard ocean of this world is crossed. You were born into a human family: let your tongue remember Rama. Make this your firm rule, day and night. Tuka says: millions of families are made pure when one sings the songs of Vithoba with true feeling.
What it means
Tukaram is urging the listener to act now, not later. He frames the whole of life as a single discrimination: the real against the unreal, and tells you to settle it quickly and keep the Name on your lips. He names the stakes plainly. The Name dissolves danger and carries you across the ocean of birth and death, which no other means can. The human birth is the rare chance to do this, so make remembrance a fixed daily rule. The closing claim widens the reward: one person singing Vithoba's songs with true feeling purifies not just himself but countless generations of his family.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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