The Name, regimen for the soul's cure
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हें चि भवरोगाचें औषध । जन्म जरा तुटे व्याध । आणीक कांहीं नव्हे बाध । करील वध षड्वर्गा ॥1॥
सांवळें रूप ल्यावें डोळां । सा चौ अठरांचा गोळा । पदर लागों नेदी खळा । नाममंत्रमाळा विष्णुसहस्र ॥ध्रु.॥
भोजना न द्यावें अन्न । जेणें चुके अनुपान । तरीं च घेतल्याचा गुण । होईल जाण सत्य भाव ॥2॥
नये निघों आपुलिया घरा । बाहेर लागों नये वारा । बहु बोलणें तें सारा । संग दुसरा वर्जावा ॥3॥
पास तें एक द्यावें वरी । नवनीताची होईल परी । होईल गुसिळलें तें निवारी । सार भीतरी नाहीं तया ॥4॥
न्हायें अनुतापीं पांघरें दिशा । स्वेद निघों दे अवघी आशा । होसिल मागें होतासि तैसा । तुका ह्मणे दशा भोगीं वैराग्य ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
This is the remedy for the disease of worldly existence. It severs the afflictions of birth and old age. No other harm can stand against it; it will slay the six enemies of the soul. Let the eyes absorb that dark-hued form, the essence that conquers the six senses, the eighteen chapters, and the six philosophies. Do not let the wicked approach. The garland of the Name, the Vishnu Sahasranama, is the mantra. Do not feed the body with food that disrupts the proper regimen, for only then will the medicine taken bear fruit and true faith will arise. Do not leave your own home or let outside winds touch you. Curtail excessive speech; avoid the company of others. Apply one poultice on top: the effect will be like butter churned from buttermilk, separating what is essential from what is not. Bathe in repentance, clothe yourself in renunciation, and let all craving be sweated out. You will become what you once were. Says Tuka, experience the state of dispassion.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
This is the medicine for the disease of worldly life. It cuts off birth, old age, and sickness. No other harm can stand against it. It will kill the six enemies inside you. Take that dark form into your eyes. It is the essence that masters the six senses, the eighteen chapters, the six schools. Let no wicked thing come near. The garland of the Name, the Vishnu Sahasranama, is your mantra. Do not feed the body food that breaks the regimen, for only then does the medicine work and true faith comes. Do not leave your own house; let no outside wind touch you. Cut down too much talk; avoid other company. Lay one poultice on top, and it will turn out like butter churned from buttermilk, the essence parted from what is hollow. Bathe in repentance, wrap yourself in renunciation, sweat out every craving. You will become what you once were. Tuka says: live in the state of dispassion.
What it means
Tukaram treats the round of birth and death as an illness and prescribes a cure like a physician giving a regimen. The medicine is the dark form of God taken into the eyes and the Name held on the lips. But a medicine fails if the patient breaks the diet, so he lists the conditions: stay home from harmful company, cut idle talk, refuse what disrupts the treatment. The churning image names the goal, to separate the true self from the hollow accretions the way butter is separated from buttermilk. Repentance, renunciation, and sweated-out craving are not punishments but the bath and the cure, and what they restore is your original nature, what you once were before the disease set in.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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