The Name, maya still pursues
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
सोडिला संसार । माया तयावरि फार ॥1॥
धांवत चाले मागें मागें । सुखदुःख साहे अंगे ॥ध्रु.॥
यानें घ्यावें नाम । तीसीकरणें त्याचें काम ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे भोळी । विठ्ठलकृपेची कोंवळी ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even after abandoning worldly life, the power of illusion pursues one relentlessly. It runs behind, step by step, sharing in every pleasure and pain. One should therefore take the Name; that alone accomplishes the work of all three faculties. Says Tuka, this is the tender, gentle grace of Vitthal.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You have left worldly life. Even so, maya hangs heavy on you. She runs along behind, step after step, sharing in every joy and every sorrow. So take the Name. That alone does the work of all three faculties. Tuka says: this is the tender, gentle grace of Vitthal.
What it means
Tukaram warns the renouncer that walking away from household life does not leave illusion behind. Maya keeps running at your back, step by step, mixed into every pleasure and pain you still feel, so renunciation by itself is no safe ground. His remedy is the Name: taking it does the whole work that body, speech, and mind would otherwise have to do, accomplishing what no separate effort can. And he calls this provision tender and gentle, the soft grace of Vitthal toward those who cannot outrun maya on their own. The Name is given precisely because the struggle alone is not enough.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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