The Name, the song enough
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
तुज काय करूं मज एक सार । अमृतसागर नाम तुझें ॥1॥
काय येणें उणें आह्मां तयापोटीं । गोवितां हे कंठीं कामधेनु ॥ध्रु.॥
नोळखे तानुलें माय ऐसी कोण । वोरसे देखून शोक त्याचा ॥2॥
जो नाहीं देखिला याचक नयनीं । तो पावे घेउनि लज्जा दान ॥3॥
नामासाटीं प्राण सांडियेला रणीं । शूर ते भांडणीं न फिरती ॥4॥
तुका ह्मणे आह्मी गातां गीतीं भला । भेटूनी विठ्ठला काय चाड ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What shall I offer You? I have one treasure: Your name, an ocean of nectar. What could be lacking when we tie this wish-fulfilling cow to our necks? What kind of mother does not recognize her hungry child? She overflows with milk upon seeing its distress. He who has never seen a supplicant before His eyes gives with such bashful generosity. Warriors who gave their lives on the battlefield for the sake of the Name never turned back. Says Tuka, when we sing Your songs so well, what further need is there to meet Vitthal in person?.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What shall I give You? I have one treasure: Your name, an ocean of nectar. What could we lack with this wish-granting cow tied at our throat? What mother does not know her hungry child? She overflows with milk the moment she sees its distress. He who never saw a beggar before His eyes gives, and gives bashfully. Warriors who threw away their lives in battle for the Name never turned back. Tuka says: when we sing Your songs well, what need is left to meet Vitthal in person?
What it means
Tukaram asks what a poor man could possibly offer God and answers that he already holds the one treasure, the Name, an ocean of nectar and a wish-granting cow worn at the throat. He stacks up reasons it is enough: God responds like a mother whose milk lets down at the mere sight of her child's hunger, giving even before being asked and almost shy in His generosity. He recalls warriors who died for the Name and never retreated, showing how total a hold it can take. The startling close is his claim that singing the songs well makes meeting Vitthal in the flesh almost beside the point, because the Name already delivers the whole of God.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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