The Name, beyond great and small
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आवल नाम आल्ला बडा लेते भुल न जाये । इलाम त्याकालजमुपरताही तुंब बजाये ॥१॥
आल्ला एक तुं नबी एक तुं ॥ध्रु.॥
काटतें सिर पावों हात नहीं जीव उराये । आगले देखे पिछले बुझे । आपें हजुर आयें ॥२॥
सब सबरी नचाव म्याने । खडा आपनी सात । हात पावों रखते जबाब । नहीं आगली बात ॥३॥
सुनो भाई बजार नहीं । सब हि निरचे लाव । नन्हा बडा नहीं कोये एक ठोर मिलाव ॥४॥
एक तार नहीं प्यार । जीवतनकी आस । कहे तुका सो हि मुंढा । राखलिये पायेनपास ॥५॥
डोई फोडा - अभंग १
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The first and greatest name is Allah; take it and never be deceived. On the day of reckoning, even over the bridge of judgment, that name will sound like a drum. Allah is one, the Prophet is one. Even if the head is cut and the hands and feet are severed, the life-breath does not leave. He who sees what is ahead and understands what is behind stands ready in the divine presence. Listen, brothers, this is no marketplace; everyone must be leveled alike. There is no great or small; all must meet in one single place. Says Tuka, that shaven-headed fakir who has no attachment to life or body should be kept at the feet of the Lord.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The first and greatest name is Allah; take it and never be fooled. On the day of reckoning, even on the bridge of judgment, that name will sound like a drum. Allah is one, the Prophet is one. Even if the head is cut off and the hands and feet are severed, the life does not leave. The one who sees what is ahead and knows what is behind stands ready in the divine presence. Listen, brothers, this is no marketplace; everyone must be made level. There is no great and no small; all must meet in one single place. There is no thread, no love, no clinging to staying alive. Tuka says: that shaven fakir should be kept at the Lord's feet.
What it means
Speaking in the fakir's idiom, Tukaram makes the Name the one thing that carries a soul through the final crossing, sounding like a drum even on the bridge of judgment. He presses oneness all the way down: God is one, and the true seeker who has died to fear stands present, unshaken even if the body is cut apart. Then he levels the ground, this is no bargaining place, no rank of great and small; every soul meets in the same single spot. The poem ends by handing over the one who has let go of life and clinging, to be kept at the Lord's feet.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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