The Name, the body made Brahman
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
देह हा सादर पाहावा नििश्चत । सर्व सुख एथें नाम आहे ॥1॥
ब्रह्म जें देखणें द्वैत जेव्हां गेलें । शरीर तें जालें ब्रह्मरूप ॥ध्रु.॥
यजन याजन तप व्रतें करिती । विकल्पें नागवती शुद्ध पुण्या ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे सर्व सुख एथें आहे । भ्रांति दूर पाहें टाकुनियां ॥3॥ ॥13॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
This body should be regarded carefully and with certainty. All happiness resides here in the Name. When Brahman is truly seen and duality has departed, the body itself becomes Brahman. Those who perform rituals, sacrifices, austerities, and vows are cheated of their pure merit by doubts and mental constructions. Says Tuka, all joy is right here. Cast delusion far away and see clearly.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
Look closely at this body, and be sure: all happiness is here, in the Name. When Brahman is truly seen and duality is gone, the body itself becomes Brahman. Those who pile up sacrifices, austerities, and vows are robbed of their pure merit by their doubts and notions. Tuka says: all joy is right here; throw delusion far away and see.
What it means
Tukaram says the goal people seek elsewhere is already present in the body, by way of the Name. When Brahman is genuinely seen and the sense of two, self and God, falls away, the very body is found to be Brahman; nothing has to be reached for. He warns that those who trust instead in heaped-up rites, austerities, and vows lose their merit to the doubts and mental constructions that come with such effort. His call is to stop the striving, drop the delusion of distance, and see that all joy is here now in the Name.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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