The Name, wealth for the final hour
Original Marathi from the Tukaram Gatha · About Sant Tukaram
मराठी मूळ
जतन करीन जीवें । शुद्धभावें करूनी ॥1॥
विठ्ठल विठ्ठल हें धन । जीवन अंतकाळींचें ।ध्रु.॥
वदनळ हें संचित सारूं । बरवा करूं उदिम हा ॥2॥
तुका ह्मणे हृदयपेटी । ये संपुटीं सांटवूं ॥3॥
Tukaram Gatha (Marathi Wikisource)
English Translation
I shall guard it with my very jiva, with pure devotion. The name Vitthal, Vitthal is my wealth, my sustenance at the final hour. I shall invest this accumulated store and carry on this blessed trade. Says Tuka, I shall store it in the casket of my heart.
We ask forgiveness for any inaccuracies in rendering Tukaram ji’s original Marathi.
In Plain Words
I will guard it with my very life, keeping it with a pure heart. The name Vitthal, Vitthal is my wealth, my sustenance at the hour of death. I will spend down this stored merit and carry on this good trade. Tuka says: I will store it away in the casket of my heart.
What it means
Tukaram treats the Name as treasure, and the whole poem speaks in the language of trade. He vows to guard the name Vitthal with his life and a clean heart, because it is the one wealth that will sustain him at the moment of death, when nothing else holds. He will invest his accumulated merit into this single trade, the repeating of the Name, as the only commerce worth doing. The closing image is a locked casket: the heart, where this wealth is stored safe until it is needed.
The Power of the Name
The supremacy of nama-smarana: God's name as the highest practice.
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