The Name, the final arrow at the hour of death
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
चांगलें नाम गोमटें रूप । निवती डोळे हरती ताप । विठ्ठल विठ्ठल हा जप । प्रगट स्वल्प । अति सार ॥1॥
शस्त्र हे निर्वाणींचा बाण । निकट समय अवसान । कोठें योजेल दश दान। खंडी नारायण दुःख चिंतनें ॥ध्रु.॥
सकळ श्रेष्ठांचें मत । पावे सिद्धी पाववी अनंत । ह्मणोनि व्हावें शरणागत । आहे उचित एवढें चि ॥2॥
ह्मणोनि रुसलों संसारा । सर्प विखार हा पांढरा । तुजशीं अंतर रे दातारा । या चि दावेदारानिमित्त ॥3॥
येणें मज भोगविल्या खाणी। नसतां छंद लाविला मनीं । माजलों मी माझे भ्रमणीं । जाली बोडणी विटंबना ॥4॥
पावलों केलियाचा दंड । खाणी भोगिविल्या उदंड। आतां केला पाहिजे खंड । तुका दंडवत घाली देवा ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
What a beautiful Name, what a lovely form. The eyes find rest and all suffering is removed. This chant of "Vitthal, Vitthal" is a compact yet supremely potent practice. It is the ultimate weapon, the final arrow. At the critical hour of death, where can one arrange ten kinds of charity? Narayana destroys all sorrow through contemplation. This is the consensus of all the great ones. It brings fulfillment and leads to the Infinite. Therefore one should surrender; this much alone is proper. I have turned away from worldly life in disgust, for it is a white serpent full of poison. I am kept from You, O generous Lord, because of these worldly claimants. They have made me suffer through countless births, planting unnecessary desires in my mind. I was puffed up with the madness of "I and mine," and was stripped and humiliated. I have received the punishment for my deeds and endured enormous suffering. Now a stop must be put to all this. Says Tuka, I prostrate before You, O God.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
What a good Name, what a lovely form. The eyes are cooled and the burning is taken away. This chant of Vitthal, Vitthal is small and plain to do, yet it is the very essence. It is the weapon, the last arrow at the end. At the close hour of death, where could you arrange ten kinds of charity? Narayana cuts off all sorrow when you think on him. This is what all the great ones agree. It brings fulfillment and leads to the Infinite. So one should surrender; this much alone is right. So I have grown sick of worldly life; it is a white serpent full of poison. I am kept from you, my generous Lord, by these very claimants. They made me suffer through countless births and planted needless cravings in my mind. I swelled up in the madness of I and mine, and was stripped and shamed. I have taken the punishment for my deeds and suffered through endless births. Now there must be an end to it. Tuka says: I lay myself flat before you, God.
What it means
Tukaram weighs the simple chant of Vitthal's Name against every elaborate rite and finds it the one thing equal to the crisis of death. At that hour you cannot arrange ten kinds of charity, but you can say the Name, which he calls the final arrow, and which the great ones agree leads all the way to the Infinite. Against this he sets worldly life as a white serpent: it looks harmless yet is full of poison, and it is the worldly claims of I and mine that have kept him from God and dragged him through countless births. Having taken the punishment for his own deeds, he asks for the cycle to be cut off. The closing prostration is the whole teaching in one act: stop bargaining, surrender, and let the Name carry you.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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