The Name, the tongue even when the heart lags
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
नसे तरी मनो नसो । परी वाचे तरी वसो ॥1॥
देह पडो या चिंतनें । विठ्ठलनामसंकीर्तनें ॥ध्रु.॥
दंभिस्थती भलत्या भावें । मज हरिजन ह्मणावें ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे काळें तरी । मज सांभाळील हरी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even if my mind is not in it, let the Name at least dwell upon my tongue. Let this body perish in the chanting of Vitthal's Name and kirtan. By whatever pretense or state, let people call me a devotee of Hari. Says Tuka, in time, Hari Himself will look after me.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Even if my mind is not in it, let it not be in it; only let the Name live on my tongue. Let this body fall away in this remembrance, in the kirtan of Vitthal's Name. By whatever pretense, in whatever state, let people call me a devotee of Hari. Tuka says: in time, Hari himself will look after me.
What it means
Tukaram makes a frank, almost reckless prayer about a half-hearted heart. He admits his mind may not be present, and rather than wait for perfect feeling he asks that at least the Name keep moving on his tongue, even if the inner devotion is missing. Let the body wear out chanting Vitthal's Name; let him be called a devotee even if his standing as one is partly pretense. The wager is that the practice itself, kept up despite the cold heart, is enough to begin with. He trusts that Hari, given time, will take over and complete what the man cannot yet feel.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
More in this theme →