The Name, open to all who say it
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
हो कां दुराचारी । वाचे नाम जो उच्चारी ॥1॥
नसो भाव चित्तीं । हरिचे गुण गातां गीतीं ॥2॥
करी अनाचार । वाचे हरिनामउच्चार ॥3॥
हो कां भलतें कुळ । शुचि अथवा चांडाळ ॥4॥
ह्मणवी हरिचा दास । तुका ह्मणे धन्य त्यास ॥5॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
Even if one is of wicked conduct, if the tongue utters the Name, it is enough. Even if there is no devotion in the heart, singing the virtues of Hari in song is still blessed. Even if one practices wrongdoing, the utterance of Hari's Name on the lips is still potent. Be one of any caste, honored or shunned. Says Tuka, blessed is the one who calls himself a servant of Hari.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Let him be a man of wicked conduct: if his tongue speaks the Name, that is enough. Let there be no devotion in his heart: still, singing Hari's virtues in song is blessed. Let him do wrong things: still, the speaking of Hari's Name on the lips has power. Let him be of any caste, the pure or the outcast. Tuka says: blessed is the one who calls himself Hari's servant.
What it means
Tukaram pushes the power of the Name to its most radical edge: it does not wait for the speaker to first become good, sincere, or high-born. Even the wrongdoer, even the one with no devotion in his heart, even the one society shuns as an outcast, is reached the moment the Name is on his tongue. This is not a license for wrongdoing but a demolition of every barrier people place at the door of God. The one thing that matters is calling oneself Hari's servant; by that single claim, anyone at all is made blessed.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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