The Name at death, only blessing
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नको विद्या वयसा आयुष्य फारसें । नाहीं मज पिसें मुक्तीचें ही ॥1॥
रामकृष्ण ह्मणतां जावो माझा प्राण । हें चि कृपादान मागतसें ॥ध्रु.॥
नको धन मान न वाढे संतान । मुखीं नारायण प्राण जावा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे दीन काकुलती येतों । तुज निरवितों पांडुरंगा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I do not want learning, youth, or a long life. I have no craving even for liberation. Let my life depart while uttering the names Rama and Krishna. This is the only blessing I seek. I do not want wealth or prestige or a growing family. Let Narayana be on my lips when my breath leaves. Says Tuka, I am helpless and I plead with You. I entrust myself to You, O Panduranga.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I do not want learning. I do not want youth. I do not want a long life. I have no craving even for liberation. Let my breath leave while I am saying the names Rama and Krishna. This alone is the blessing I beg for. I do not want wealth. I do not want honor. I do not want a growing family. Let Narayana be on my lips when my breath goes. Tuka says: I am helpless and I come pleading. I hand myself over to You, Panduranga.
What it means
Tukaram strips away every prize a person could ask for, low and high alike: learning, youth, long life, wealth, honor, children, and even liberation itself. He sets one wish above all of them, that the names Rama and Krishna, Narayana, be in his mouth at the moment his breath leaves. That is the single blessing he asks for. The poem ends in surrender, not in bargaining: he calls himself helpless and entrusts his whole self to Panduranga, leaving the dying breath in God's hands.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
More in this theme →