The Name, the only provision
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
मैत्र केले महा बळी । कामा न येती अंतकाळीं ॥१॥
आधीं घे रे रामनाम । सामा भरीं हा उत्तम ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं तरी यम । दांत खातो करकरा ॥२॥
धन मेळविलें कोडी । काळ घेतल्या न सोडी ॥३॥
कामा न ये हा परिवार । सैन्य लोक बहु फार ॥४॥
तंववरि मिरविसी बळ । जंव आला नाहीं काळ ॥५॥
तुका म्हणे बापा । चुकवीं चौर्याशींच्या खेपा ॥६॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
You made friends with the mighty, but they are of no use at the hour of death. Take the name of Rama now; fill your store with this best of provisions. Otherwise Yama grinds his teeth, waiting. You amassed millions in wealth, but Kala will not release what it has seized. Your retinue and armies are of no help at that moment. You parade your strength only until Kala arrives. Says Tuka, O father, escape the rounds of eighty-four lakh births.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
You made friends with the powerful, but they are no use at the hour of death. Take the name of Rama now; fill your stores with that, the best of all provisions. Otherwise Death stands grinding his teeth, waiting. You piled up millions, but Time will not give back what it has seized. Your retinue and your armies are no help in that moment. You can parade your strength only until Death arrives. Tuka says: my friend, slip free of the eighty-four lakh rounds of birth.
What it means
A plain reckoning with death. All the things a person banks on, powerful friends, amassed wealth, retinue, armies, strength, are worthless at the one moment that matters, the hour of dying, when Death takes and does not return. Against that, Tukaram urges the one provision that travels: the name of Rama, gathered now, while there is time. He calls the listener affectionately, my friend, not to frighten but to rouse. The aim is to escape the vast wheel of rebirths, and the ticket, he says, is the Name laid up in advance.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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