The Name, God held in the heart
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां येणें बळें पंढरीनाथ । जवळी राहिला तिष्ठत । पाहातां न कळे जयाचा अंत । तो चि हृदयांत घालूं आतां ॥1॥
विसरोनि आपुला देहपणभाव । नामें चि भुलविला पंढरीराव । न विचारी याती कुळ नांव । लागावया पाव संतांचे ॥2॥
बरें वर्म आलें आमुचिया हातां । हिंडावें धुंडावें न लगतां । होय अविनाश सहाकारी दाता । चतुर्भुज संता परि धाकें ॥3॥
होय आवडी सानें थोर । रूप सुंदर मनोहर । भक्तििप्रय लोभापर । करी आदर याचकपणें ॥4॥
तें वर्म आलें आमुच्या हाता । ह्मणोनि शरण निघालों संतां । तुका ह्मणे पंढरीनाथा । न सोडी आतां जीवें भावें ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now by this power the Lord of Pandhari has remained standing close at hand. Looking upon Him, one cannot fathom His limits, yet that very One I will now place within my heart. Forgetting all body-consciousness, I have been captivated by the Name alone. The Lord of Pandhari does not consider caste, lineage, or reputation when it comes to touching the feet of saints. A wonderful secret has come into our hands. Without searching or seeking, the imperishable and generous Giver appears, though He stands in awe before His saints like a four-armed deity. He becomes large or small according to one's love. His form is beautiful and enchanting. He loves devotion and shows respect even as a supplicant. That secret has come into our hands, and so I have gone to the saints for refuge. Says Tuka, O Lord of Pandhari, I will not let go of You now, with all my life and soul.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Now by this power Pandharinath has stayed standing close at hand. Look at him, and you cannot find his end; yet that very One I will now set inside my heart. Forgetting all sense of my own body, I am charmed by the Name alone. The Lord of Pandhari does not ask after caste, family, or name when it comes to touching the feet of his saints. A good secret has come into our hands. Without wandering and searching, the undying, generous Giver appears; four-armed, yet he stands in awe before his saints. He grows small or great according to your love. His form is beautiful, stealing the mind. He loves devotion and gives way to it, showing respect like one who comes begging. That secret has come into our hands, and so I have gone to the saints for refuge. Tuka says: O Pandharinath, I will not let you go now, with all my life and heart.
What it means
Tukaram has found the secret that lets him hold the boundless God inside his own heart. The endless One, whom no looking can fathom, comes close and stays, drawn not by ritual but by the Name and by love, and he asks nothing about caste, lineage, or reputation when it is his saints he attends to. The wonder Tukaram names is the Lord's strange humility: the four-armed God stands in awe before his devotees, grows small or great according to the love offered him, and behaves like a respectful supplicant before those who love him. Because this secret of the Name has come into his hands, Tukaram takes refuge with the saints who carry it. And having grasped the Lord, he makes the only vow that matters: he will not let go.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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