Exhortation, the easiest ladder
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
श्रीराम सखा ऐसा धरीं भाव । मीपणाचा ठाव पुसीं मना ॥1॥
शरण निरंतर ह्मण तूं गोविंदा । वाचे लावीं धंदा नारायण ॥ध्रु.॥
यापरि सोपान नाहीं रे साधन । वाहातसें आण तुझी मना ॥2॥
नको कांहीं करूं अळस अंतरीं । जपें निरंतर रघुपती ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे मोठा लाभ नरदेहीं । देहीं च विदेही होती नामें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Hold the conviction that Rama is your true friend, and erase the seat of ego from your mind. Say Govinda ceaselessly as one who has surrendered, and set your tongue to the work of chanting Narayana. There is no easier practice than this, O mind; I swear this to you. Do not allow any laziness within. Chant Raghupati without ceasing. Says Tuka, the greatest gain in human birth is this: through the Name, one becomes liberated even while in the body.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Hold this conviction: Shri Rama is my friend. Wipe out the seat of I-ness in your mind. Say it forever, surrendered: you, Govinda. Set your tongue to the work of Narayana. There is no easier step than this, no practice like it; I swear this to you, O mind. Do not be lazy within at all. Repeat Raghupati without stopping. Tuka says: the great gain of human birth is this, that by the Name one becomes free even while still in the body.
What it means
Tukaram urges the mind toward the simplest possible path. The first move is inward: take Rama as your true friend and erase the place where the ego sits. The rest is the tongue's labor, the ceaseless saying of Govinda, Narayana, Raghupati in an attitude of surrender. He vows there is no easier ladder than this and warns against the one real obstacle, the inner laziness that lets the practice slip. The stake he names is the highest one available to a human being: through the Name a person can become liberated, videha, free, while still living in the body.
Appeals and Exhortations
Direct calls to action: wake up, seek God, do not waste this human birth.
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