The Name, the glory of Rama
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
काय पाहतोसि कृपेच्या सागरा । नराच्या नरेंद्रा पांडुरंगा ॥1॥
नामाचा प्रताप िब्रदाचा बडिवार । करावा साचार नारायणा ॥ध्रु.॥
कलीमाजी देव बौध्यरूप जाला । जगाचिया बोला लागूं नका ॥2॥
माय पुत्रा काय मारूं पाहे कळी । जगाची ढवाळी काय काज ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे या हो कृपेच्या सागरा । रुकुमादेवीवरा मायबापा ॥4॥
धन्य तो एक संसारीं । रामनाम जो उच्चारी ॥ध्रु.॥
तुका ह्मणे रामनामीं । कृतकृत्य जालों आह्मीं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What are You waiting for, O ocean of grace, O King of kings, O Panduranga? Make the glory of the Name and the honor of Your pledges come true, O Narayana. In this age of Kali, God has taken the form of Buddha. Do not heed the words of the world. Can Kali, the dark age, truly destroy a mother's son? What business is the world's gossip? Says Tuka, come, O ocean of mercy, O husband of Rukmadevi, O my parent. Blessed is that one in this world who utters the Name of Rama. Says Tuka, through Rama's Name, we have become perfectly fulfilled.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What are You waiting for, ocean of grace, King of kings, Panduranga? Make the glory of the Name and the honor of Your pledges come true, Narayana. In this age of Kali, God took the form of Buddha. Do not listen to the talk of the world. Can the dark age really kill a mother's son? What is the world's gossip to us? Tuka says: come, ocean of mercy, husband of Rukmadevi, my father and mother. Blessed is the one in this world who speaks the Name of Rama. Tuka says: through Rama's Name, we have become wholly fulfilled.
What it means
Tukaram presses God to act on God's own reputation. The Name has a glory and the Lord has standing pledges; let them be proved true rather than left as words. He treats the dark age of Kali as a threat that cannot finally harm one who belongs to God, a mother's son, and tells God to ignore the chatter of the world that says otherwise. The same dismissal is his own freedom: the world's gossip is no business of the devotee. The poem then resolves into pure assurance. To speak Rama's Name is blessedness, and through it Tukaram declares himself already complete, with nothing left to win.
Prayers
Direct appeals to God: for protection, guidance, strength, and mercy.
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