Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
Nama-smarana
Keep the heart turned to God by inwardly and aloud repeating the Name ‘Vitthal’ (Hari), the simple path open to anyone.
In 5 lines: Take one dear Name of God — “Vitthal,” “Hari,” “Rama.” Repeat it gently, aloud then silently, with longing rather than by rote. Carry it through the ordinary day, not only the temple. When you forget, simply begin the Name again. Let it become continual, sounding on its own beneath all you do.
What it is
Tukaram’s central, most accessible practice is nama-smarana (Marathi naam smaran, “remembrance of the Name”): the loving repetition — inward and aloud — of the Name of God, above all “Vitthal” (Vithoba), the form of Krishna enshrined at Pandharpur whom the Varkari pilgrims walk to see.
For Tukaram the Name is not a technical mantra reserved for initiates; it is the simplest road home, open to the poor, the unlettered, the householder. He sings of the Name’s strange sweetness — “that name how strangely dear / that in songs of praise we hear!” — and longs only that it never leave his thought: “Lord, let it be that when thy name / into my thoughts shall come.” Its hallmark is devotion over technique: not counting for its own sake but holding one Name with warmth until the mind, almost without effort, keeps returning to it.
The Method
Drawn from Tukaram’s abhangas and the living Varkari practice:
- Take the Name. Use “Vitthal” (or “Hari,” “Rama” — the Name dearest to you). Hold it as the name of the one beloved God, not as a syllable to grind out.
- Say it with feeling. Repeat it gently — aloud, then under the breath, then silently — letting longing and trust, not mechanical counting, carry it. “One heart I’ve brought, ever — without, within — one thought.”
- Return whenever you notice you have drifted. The remembering and re-remembering is the practice; do it without self-reproach.
- Weave it through the ordinary day. Tukaram was a working householder; the Name went with him to the field and the market, not only to the temple. Let walking, waiting, and labour carry it.
- Let it become continual. As repetition installs the pattern, the Name begins to sound on its own beneath activity — remembrance becomes the resting ground of the mind. (Sourcing note: quoted lines are from published English translations of Tukaram’s abhangas — “The Joy of the Name,” “One Thing I Do,” “The Name of the Living One.” Tukaram composed songs, not numbered drills; the steps faithfully render the remembrance his verses convey, not a regimen he prescribed.)
Source & Lineage
Tukaram (c. 1608–1649), the Marathi poet-saint of the Varkari sampradaya, poured his realisation into thousands of abhangas sung on the pilgrimage to Pandharpur. Each closes with his signature line, “Tuka mhane” (“says Tuka”).
He stands with Dnyaneshwar, Namdev and Eknath in the Varkari stream of Vithoba-devotion. This entry is deliberately distinct from neighbouring Name-practices. Unlike (Kabir’s nirguna Name pointing past all form, set against temple and idol), Tukaram’s nama-smarana is saguna, image-bound and pilgrimage-centred — the Name “Vitthal” is loved as the dark standing figure at Pandharpur.
Unlike and / (counted japa with mala), Tukaram’s stress is on the Name as the householder’s whole-life road, not a fixed count.
Common refinements
Mechanical muttering. Tukaram’s whole emphasis is feeling and longing; dry rote misses it.
- Reserving it for the temple or cushion. Its genius is constancy through ordinary life — take it to the work, as he did.
- Counting as the goal. Number is a scaffold, not the point; the dear Name held warmly matters more.
- Self-reproach for forgetting. Forgetting and gently returning is the practice.
- Grasping for an experience. Keep remembering lightly; the practice is surrender, not a results engine.