Abhanga 604

Singing God's name is said to remove our faults, and Tukaram argues both bhakta and God have real stakes in that promise, closing with the confidence that sincere service can overcome even the hardest of times.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A dōṣa-flee-by-kīrtana-Your-promise-sevā-wins-kalikāḷa abhang. Promise-leverage register. Three claims:

1. दोष पळती कीर्तनें — तुझ्या नामें संकीर्तनें — dōṣa flee — kīrtana — Your nāma-sankīrtana. The opening-promise-claim: dōṣa (defects, sins) flee by kīrtana; by Yournāma'ssankīrtana(recitation, congregational-singing). Kīrtana-makes-dōṣa-flee. (The classical promise: nāma-sankīrtana removes dōṣa.)

2. हें कां करूं आदरिलें — खोटें वचन आपुलें — तुम्ही पापा भीतां — आम्हां उपजावया चिंता — why this — taken up? — Your — khōṭē vacana? — You fear pāpa — us — cintā — upajaṇē. The promise-leverage-charge: why was thisādarilē(taken up, undertaken) (by us)?; (was) Yourvacana(word) —khōṭē(false)?; You fearpāpa; (while) for us — comes thecintā(worry) ofupajaṇē(being-born = re-birth). We-took-up-the-bhakti-because-of-Your-promise; was-it-false?; You-fear-Your-own-pāpa, we-fear-rebirth; both-have-stakes. (The brilliant-rhetoric: the deva-fears-pāpa-of-breaking-promise; we-fear-rebirth — both have stakes; therefore, the deva must keep-the-promise.)

3. तुका म्हणे सेवा — कळिकाळा जिंकी देवा — Tuka says: sevā — wins kalikāḷa — deva. The closing-sevā-wins-claim: Tuka says:sevā— winskalikāḷa, deva.True-sevā-conquers-kalikāḷa.Final-claim.

[T]

For someone today

There's an old promise that singing God's name in kirtana makes our faults flee, and Tukaram holds God to it, almost daringly, asking: was Your word false? He points out that both sides have something at stake here: God risks the wrongdoing of breaking a promise, and we risk being born again and again if the promise doesn't hold. That kind of bold, honest bargaining with God is itself a form of devotion. And Tuka closes with real confidence: true service, offered sincerely, is strong enough to defeat even the hardest, most troubled of times.

मराठी: एक जुनं वचन आहे की कीर्तनात नाम गायल्याने आपले दोष पळून जातात, आणि तुकाराम जवळजवळ धीटपणे देवाला त्या वचनाची आठवण करून देतात, विचारतात, तुझं वचन खोटं होतं का? ते सांगतात की या व्यवहारात दोघांचेही काहीतरी पणाला लागलेलं आहे, देवाला वचनभंगाचं पाप लागण्याची भीती आहे, आणि आपल्याला पुन्हा पुन्हा जन्म घ्यावा लागण्याची चिंता आहे. देवाशी असा प्रामाणिक आणि धाडसी संवाद हाही एक प्रकारचा भक्तीभाव आहे. आणि तुका शेवटी ठामपणे सांगतात, खरी सेवा, मनापासून केलेली, अगदी कठीण काळालाही जिंकू शकते.

Where this applies

• Dōṣa—kīrtana-removed. Promise.
• Khōṭē vacana? Charge.
• Mutual-stakes. Leverage.
• Sevāwinskalikāḷa. Final.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2464 — For today: Pāṇḍuranga is sukha-rūpa ; no wandering, no shaving, no sādhana-pressure ; Chan
• Abhanga 2477 — Like a child too absorbed in play to notice how tired he is, let go and trust the parent c
• Abhanga 2481 — Pandharpur surpasses even the greatest pilgrimage cities because people there set aside pr