Abhanga 597

The name of God is the highest essence of all, powerful enough to save even the lowliest person, as the examples of Vālmīki the fisherman and Śiva himself show.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A nāma-is-sāra-of-sāra-Vālhā-kōḷī-saved abhang. Nāma-priority register with classical-examples. Three claims:

1. नाम साराचें ही सार — शरणागत यमकिंकर — nāma — sāra-of-sāra — śaraṇāgata yama-kinkara. The opening-essence-claim: nāma is the sāra of sāra (the essence-of-essence);it makes one śaraṇāgata (refuge-given-to) before the yama-kinkara (Yama's-servants).Even-Yama-takes-refuge-before-the-nāma.Nāma-supreme-essence.

2. उतमातम — वाचे बोला पुरुषोत्तम — utama-uttama — vāca speak Puruṣōttama. The vāca-rule: utama-uttama (best-of-best);by vāca speak Puruṣōttama (Supreme-Person).Speak-the-best-name-with-the-best-vāca.

3. नाम जपतां चंद्रमौळी — नामें तरला वाल्हा कोळी — तुका म्हणे वणूप काय — तारक विठोबाचे पाय — Cāndra-mauḷī japs — Vālhā-kōḷī saved — what to praise? — Viṭhōbā feet — tāraka. The classical-examples-and-closing-claim: Cāndra-mauḷī (Śiva, who has the moon on his head) himself japs the nāma; by thenāma,Vālhā-kōḷī(Vālmīki the fisherman, the future-author of the Rāmāyaṇa)taralā(was-crossed, was-saved); Tuka says: what to praise (vaṇūpa kāya)?; Viṭhōbā's pāyā (feet) are tāraka (saving, ferry-bringing).Even-Śiva-japs; even-Vālmīki-the-fisherman-was-saved; how-much-more-Viṭhōbā's-feet-save. (TheVālhā-kōḷīreference: Vālmīki was a fisherman / hunter who became a sage by repeatingRāma-Rāma — the standard-example of nāma-power transforming the lowliest.)

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For someone today

Tukaram calls the divine name the essence of every essence — so powerful that even Yama's own servants, who come for the dying, stand back before someone who has taken refuge in it. Whenever you speak, he says, speak the highest name with your best voice; do not waste your words on lesser things. Even Śiva, the great ascetic god with the moon on his head, is said to chant this very name, and Vālmīki, once only a fisherman, was carried across his troubles and transformed into a sage by repeating it. Tuka asks what more praise could be needed: Viṭṭhal's feet alone are enough to ferry anyone across life's hardships.

मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की देवाचे नाम हे सर्व सारांचे सार आहे — इतके सामर्थ्यशाली की मृत्यूसमयी येणारे यमाचे दूतही, ज्याने या नामाचा आश्रय घेतला आहे त्याच्यापुढे मागे हटतात. जेव्हा बोलाल तेव्हा सर्वोत्तम नाम आपल्या उत्तम वाणीने बोला, असे ते सांगतात; शब्द फुकट घालवू नका. स्वतः शिवशंकरसुद्धा, ज्यांच्या मस्तकावर चंद्र आहे, हेच नाम जपतात असे म्हटले जाते, आणि केवळ कोळी असलेला वाल्हा या नामामुळेच तरला आणि पुढे ऋषी झाला. तुका विचारतात आणखी स्तुती कशाला हवी — विठोबाचे पाय तेवढे पुरेसे आहेत कुणालाही जीवनातल्या अडचणींतून पार नेण्यासाठी.

Where this applies

• Nāma—sāra-of-sāra. Essence.
• Cāndra-mauḷī japs. Even-Śiva.
• Vālhā-kōḷī saved. Even-fisherman.
• Viṭhōbā-feettāraka. Saving-ferry.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2494 — Living in devotion turns an ordinary day into a festival and removes the fear of birth and
• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center