Abhanga 315
Complicated rituals and rules of access fail even the learned, but a single sincere utterance of the divine name is open to anyone and enough to cross life's struggles.
The verse
वेदाचें गव्हर न कळे पाठकां । अधिकार लोकां नाहीं येरां ॥१॥ विठोबाचें नाम सुलभ सोपारें । तारी एक सरे भवसिंधु ॥ध्रु.॥ जाणत्या असाध्य मंत्र तंत्र काळ । येर तो सकळ मूढ लोक ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे विधि निषेध लोपला । उच्छेद या जाला मारगाचा ॥३॥
Literal translation
The gavhara of the Veda — the pāṭhakas don't know — adhikāra to the (other) people — none. Viṭhobā's name —sulabha-sōpārē— one-time-saying — crosses thebhava-sindhu. To thejāṇatā—mantra-tantra-kāḷa—asādhya; the rest are allmūḍha. Tuka says:vidhi-niṣedhahaslōpa; thismārgahasuccheda.
मराठी: वेदाचें गव्हर न कळे पाठकां — अधिकार लोकां नाहीं येरां. विठोबाचें नाम सुलभ सोपारें — तारी एक सरे भवसिंधु. जाणत्या असाध्य मंत्र तंत्र काळ — येर तो सकळ मूढ लोक. तुकाराम म्हणतां — विधि निषेध लोपला — उच्छेद या जाला मारगाचा.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| वेदाचें गव्हर न कळे पाठकां | "thegavhara(cave / secret) of the Veda — thepāṭhakasdon't know" |
| अधिकार लोकां नाहीं येरां | "adhikāra to the (other) people — none" |
| विठोबाचें नाम सुलभ सोपारें | "Viṭhobā's name —sulabha-sōpārē(simple-and-easy)" |
| तारी एक सरे भवसिंधु | "one-time-saying — crosses thebhava-sindhu" |
| जाणत्या असाध्य मंत्र तंत्र काळ | "to thejāṇatā(knower) —mantra-tantra-kāḷa—asādhya" |
| येर तो सकळ मूढ लोक | "the rest are allmūḍha(foolish)" |
| विधि निषेध लोपला | "vidhi-niṣedha (rule-and-prohibition) haslōpa(lapsed)" |
| उच्छेद या जाला मारगाचा | "thismārgahasuccheda(cleared / obliterated)" |
What it means
One of Tukaram's most-radical bhakti-claims. Three claims:
-
वेदाचें गव्हर न कळे पाठकां — अधिकार लोकां नाहीं येरां — Veda's gavhara not known by pāṭhakas — others have no adhikāra. The adhikāra-frame collapse. Pāṭhakas (Veda-reciters by tradition) — do not know the gavhara (cave / secret-meaning). Others (non-Brahmin-non-trained) — have no adhikāra by-tradition. So both modes — pāṭhaka and others — fail to access the Veda's secret. The Veda-as-textual-tradition isinaccessibleto anyone in the standard frame.
-
विठोबाचें नाम सुलभ सोपारें — तारी एक सरे भवसिंधु — Viṭhobā's name simple-and-easy — one-time-saying crosses bhava-sindhu. The radical-alternative. The Viṭhobā-name is sulabha-sōpārē (simple-and-easy / accessible). Eka sare — one-saying / one-time-uttering — crosses the bhava-sindhu (ocean of becoming). The Viṭhobā-name is theanti-adhikāra-requiredpath: no adhikāra-restriction, no traditional-training, no Veda-recitation — just one-time-name-saying.
-
जाणत्या असाध्य मंत्र तंत्र काळ — येर तो सकळ मूढ लोक — to the jāṇatā, mantra-tantra-kāḷa is asādhya — the rest are all mūḍha. Jāṇatā (the knower / one-who-knows-the-traditional-paths) finds mantra-tantra-kāḷa unattainable (despite all his knowing). The rest (the un-knowing) are mūḍha (foolish). So both knower and un-knower fail at the mantra-tantra-kāḷa path. (Kāḷa here possibly = time / death / right-moment; mantra-tantra to access the kāḷa is impossible.)
-
तुका म्हणे विधि निषेध लोपला — उच्छेद या जाला मारगाचा — Tuka says: vidhi-niṣedha has lapsed; this mārga has uccheda. The most-radical-closing. Vidhi-niṣedha — the rule-and-prohibition system (= the karma-mīmāmsā framework of right-and-wrong actions) — has lōpa (lapsed, fallen-out, no-longer-applicable). This mārga (the standard-textual-mārga of vidhi-niṣedha) has uccheda — been cleared-out, obliterated. In the bhakti-frame, the vidhi-niṣedha framework is no-longer-the-mārga. (Compare 0258's Hari does not remember the past — same anti-rule-system frame; here, the rule-system itself has lapsed.)
[T] [Important — this is one of Tukaram's most-radical anti-textual-tradition claims]
For someone today
Even those trained to recite the Vedas don't grasp their deepest secret, and ordinary people were never even given the right to try — so the old textual and ritual path fails everyone, learned and unlearned alike. But Vitthal's name is simple and easy for anyone to use: saying it just once is enough to carry you across the ocean of worldly struggle. Elaborate rituals and secret formulas remain out of reach even for the knowledgeable, while everyone else is simply left confused by them. Tukaram makes a bold claim here: the whole system of complicated rules and restrictions has lost its power as a path to God — what remains, open to everyone without exception, is the plain, direct act of saying the name.
मराठी: वेद पाठ करणाऱ्यांनाही त्यांचं खोल रहस्य उमजत नाही, आणि सामान्य लोकांना तर ते समजून घेण्याचा अधिकारही कधी दिला गेला नाही — त्यामुळे जुना शास्त्रोक्त आणि विधीचा मार्ग शिकलेल्या आणि अशिकलेल्या दोघांसाठीही अपयशी ठरतो. पण विठ्ठलाचं नाव मात्र सोपं आणि सहज आहे — फक्त एकदा ते घेतलं तरी ते तुम्हाला संसारसागरातून पार नेण्यास पुरेसं आहे. गुंतागुंतीचे विधी आणि गूढ मंत्र ज्ञानी माणसांच्याही आवाक्याबाहेर राहतात, तर बाकीचे लोक त्यांच्यामुळे केवळ गोंधळून जातात. तुकाराम इथे एक धाडसी दावा करतात — गुंतागुंतीच्या नियमांची आणि निर्बंधांची संपूर्ण व्यवस्था देवापर्यंत पोहोचण्याचा मार्ग म्हणून आपली ताकद गमावून बसली आहे — जे उरतं, आणि जे अपवाद न ठेवता सर्वांसाठी खुलं आहे, ते म्हणजे नुसतं, थेट नाव घेणं.
Where this applies
- Both adhikāra-paths fail. Pāṭhakas don't know; others have no adhikāra.
- Viṭhobā-name is sulabha-sōpārē; one-time-saying crosses bhava-sindhu.
- Mantra-tantra-kāḷa is asādhya to knower. Complex method fails.
- Vidhi-niṣedhahas lapsed; thismārgaisuccheda. Rule-system as path is suspended; simple-name is the direct-path.