The Name, fearless kirtan
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
भावभक्तिवादें करावें कीर्तन । आशाबधी मन करूं नये ॥1॥
अन्न पाणी धन द्रव्य नारायण । विठ्ठला वांचून बोलूं नये ॥ध्रु.॥
सप्रेम करावें देवाचें कीर्तन । भय द्या सोडून शरीराचें॥2॥
तरी मग जोडे विठ्ठलनिधान । केलिया कीर्तन सििद्ध पावे ॥3॥
देव जोडिलिया तया काय उणें । तुका ह्मणे मन धीट करा ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Perform kirtan with sincere devotion and feeling. Do not let the mind become bound by desire. Food, water, wealth, and riches are all Narayana; speak of nothing but Vitthal. Perform God's kirtan with genuine love, abandoning all fear for the body. Then the treasure of Vitthal is won; kirtan performed this way reaches perfection. Says Tuka, when God is won, what can be lacking? Make your mind bold.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Sing kirtan with sincere feeling and love. Do not let your mind be bound by desire. Food, water, wealth, and riches: all of it is Narayana. Speak of nothing but Vitthal. Sing God's kirtan with love, and let go of all fear for the body. Then the treasure of Vitthal is won; kirtan done this way reaches its fulfillment. When God is won, what could be lacking? Tuka says: make your mind bold.
What it means
Tukaram lays out how kirtan is to be done and what it asks of you. Sing with real feeling, not with a mind hooked on what you want, and treat everything you depend on, food and water and money, as Narayana, while letting your speech rest on Vitthal alone. The hard turn is the body: love must drop its fear for it, because clinging to the body keeps the mind small. Do this and the whole treasure is yours, and with God won, nothing is left to lack. So his last word is not gentle but a command to the timid heart: make your mind bold.
True Worship
What genuine worship looks like, beyond outward observances and images.
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