The Name, conquering Death
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सत्य साच खरें । नाम विठोबाचें बरें ॥1॥
जेणें तुटती बंधनें । उभयलोकीं कीतिन जेणें ॥ध्रु.॥
भाव ज्याचे गांठी । त्यासी लाभ उठाउठी ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भोळा । जिंकुं जाणे किळकाळा ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
The Name of Vithoba is true, honest, and genuine. It severs all bonds and brings glory in both this world and the next. Whoever holds sincere faith receives its benefit instantly. Says Tuka, even a simple soul can conquer Death itself.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
It is true, honest, real: the Name of Vithoba is good. It cuts the bonds that hold you. It brings glory in this world and the next. Whoever carries sincere faith gets the reward at once. Tuka says: even a simple soul learns to conquer Death.
What it means
Tukaram stakes everything on the plain power of the Name. The Name of Vithoba is no figure of speech; it is true and genuine, and it does real work, severing the bonds of bondage and winning honor in both this life and the life beyond. The condition is not learning or status but sincere faith carried in the heart, and where that faith is present the benefit comes instantly, not after long austerity. The claim lands hard at the end: with the Name even a simple, unlettered soul defeats Death itself, the one enemy no one escapes on their own.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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