The Name, his power over death
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
विचा केला ठोबा । ह्मणोनि नांव तो विठोबा ॥1॥
कां रे नेणां त्याचें नांव । काय वेदासि नाहीं ठाव ॥ध्रु.॥
शेष स्तुती प्रवर्तला । जिव्हा चिरूनि पलंग जाला ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सत्ता । ज्याची काळाचिये माथा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
He stood upon a brick, and so His name became Vithoba. Why do you not know His name? Is there no place for it in the Vedas? Shesha began to praise Him, splitting his tongue into a thousand hoods. Says Tuka, His authority reigns even over the head of Death.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
He made his stand on a brick, and so his name became Vithoba. Why do you not know his name? Is there no place for it in the Vedas? Shesha set about praising him, and split his tongue into many hoods. Tuka says: his rule reaches even to the head of Death.
What it means
Tukaram is teaching the Name and the greatness behind it. He recalls the story that the Lord stood waiting on a brick at Pandhari, and from that his name became Vithoba; then he challenges the listener, how can you not know this name, when even the Vedas hold a place for it? He says the serpent Shesha exhausted himself in praise until his tongue split into many hoods, an image of praise that can never finish. The closing claim is the largest: this Lord's authority reaches over the very head of Death. The Name we treat as small carries power that nothing, not even death, stands above.
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