Command to the tongue, only the Name
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
आतां पुढें धरीं । माझे आठव वैखरी ॥1॥
नको बडबडूं भांडे । कांहीं वाउगें तें रांडें ॥ध्रु.॥
विठ्ठल विठ्ठल । ऐसे सांडुनियां बोल ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे आण । तुज स्वामीची हे जाण ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Now, O tongue, hold fast to the remembrance of my Lord. Do not babble uselessly about worthless things. Leave aside all words except "Vitthal, Vitthal." Says Tuka, this is the command of your master; know it well.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
From now on, tongue, hold to one thing: the remembrance of my Lord. Do not babble on, you chattering thing, about worthless nonsense. Drop every word but this: "Vitthal, Vitthal." Tuka says: this is your master's order. Know it well.
What it means
Tukaram turns and gives a direct order to his own tongue, the part of him that wanders into idle talk. He scolds it for babbling about worthless things and commands it to fasten onto one task: remembering the Lord. Everything else is to be dropped, and only the Name, Vitthal, Vitthal, is to be spoken. He frames this not as a wish but as a command from the master the tongue belongs to, so that loose speech becomes plain disobedience and the Name becomes the tongue's whole duty.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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