The Name, the one true friend
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नाम पावन पावन । त्याहून पवित्र आहे कोण ॥1॥
शिव हालाहालें तापला । तो ही नामें शीतळ जाला ॥ध्रु.॥
शिवास नामाचा आधार । केला किळकाळ किंकर ॥2॥
मरण जालें काशीपुरी। तेथें नाम चि उद्धरी ॥3॥
तुका ह्मणे अवघीं चोरें। एक हरिनाम सोइरें ॥4॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The Name is sacred, supremely sacred. Who is holier than the Name? Shiva was scorched by the deadly poison, yet the Name made Him cool. The Name gave Shiva His power and made Death itself His servant. Even when death occurs at Kashi, it is the Name alone that liberates. Says Tuka, when all else proves false and treacherous, the Name of Hari is the one true friend.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
The Name is sacred, supremely sacred. Who is holier than the Name? Shiva was scorched by the deadly poison, yet the Name made him cool. The Name gave Shiva his strength and made Death itself his servant. Even when one dies at Kashi, it is the Name alone that liberates. Tuka says: when all else is a thief, the one Name of Hari is your true kin.
What it means
This abhanga places the Name above everything, even above the great deities and the great holy places. Tukaram points to Shiva, scorched by the world-poison and cooled only by the Name, to show that the Name is what gives even Shiva his power and his mastery over death. He then names Kashi, the famous place to die for release, and says it is still the Name, not the location, that actually liberates. The closing line sharpens the stakes: everything else, even what we trust to save us, is finally a thief that takes and gives nothing back. The Name of Hari alone stands as true kin.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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