Abhanga 709

Loving devotion to a personal God feels fresh and alive, and that living relationship matters more to Tukaram than chasing abstract liberation.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A nāma-pāṭha-pearl-stringing-saguṇa-abhinava-udāsīna-to-nirguṇa-give-abhaya-dāna abhang. Saguṇa-bhakti-mōkṣa-rejection register. Three claims:

1. नाम-पाठ — मुक्ता-फळ ओवणी — सगुणी-अभिनव-सुख — निर्गुणाला उदास — मोक्ष भक्त-मना न-ये. Saguṇa-abhinava-and-no-mōkṣa-claim. Nāma-pāṭha (the recital of the nāma) is mukta-phaḷāmcyā ōvaṇī (the pearl-stringing — pearls of the mukta-phaḷa "liberated-fruit / pearl" strung-on-the-thread);this sukha is abhinava (fresh, novel) in saguṇa; so we have-becomeudāsa(indifferent, dispassionate) towardnirguṇa; mōkṣa doesn't come to the bhakta'smana. Saguṇa-pearl-stringing-is-fresh-sukha; therefore-udāsīna-to-nirguṇa-and-mōkṣa-doesn't-come. (This is one of the most-explicit declarations: saguṇa-bhakti is fresh-and-new, more-loved than nirguṇa.)

2. द्यावें-घ्यावें असा भाव — काय ठायां-ठाव पुसोनियां. Give-and-take-bhāva-claim. Dyāvē-ghyāvē (give-and-take) — such bhāva remains here;what (use is) emptying-place-by-place (= no need for the empty-everything-out logic of nirguṇa)?.In-saguṇa, give-and-take-bhāva-remains; we-don't-need-to-empty-place-by-place.

3. Tuka: अभय-दान — Viśvambhara, दिलें-असें म्हणा. Give-abhaya-dāna-claim. Tuka says: now giveabhaya-dāna(the gift-of-fearlessness); say,Viśvambhara: 'dilē aisē (I-have-given-such-thing)'.Give-the-gift-of-fearlessness-and-say-You-gave-it.(The bhakta asks the deva to commit verbally — to say "given" — so the gift is sealed.)

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For someone today

Devotion doesn't have to mean erasing yourself into emptiness. Tukaram says reciting God's name is like stringing pearls, a living joy that stays fresh, and that liberation as some abstract goal doesn't actually draw the devoted heart the way that fresh joy does. What pulls him instead is relationship: a give and take with the divine, a real exchange, someone who says yes, I have given this to you. So he asks boldly for what he needs, even the gift of fearlessness, and asks that it be spoken aloud so it feels sealed and real.

मराठी: भक्ती म्हणजे स्वतःला रिकामं करून शून्यात विरघळणं असायला हवं असं नाही. तुकाराम म्हणतात की नामस्मरण म्हणजे जणू मोत्यांची माळ गुंफणं, एक ताजा आणि जिवंत आनंद, आणि निर्गुण मोक्षासारखं अमूर्त उद्दिष्ट भक्ताच्या मनाला त्या ताज्या आनंदाइतकं खरंच ओढत नाही. त्याऐवजी ओढ असते ती नात्याची, देवाशी देवाणघेवाण, खरा संबंध, आणि हो मी हे तुला दिलं असं सांगणारा कुणीतरी. म्हणून तो निर्भयपणे जे हवं ते मागतो, अगदी निर्भयतासुद्धा, आणि ते शब्दांत सांगितलं जावं म्हणजे ते खरं आणि पक्कं वाटेल अशी विनंती करतो.

Where this applies

• Nāma-pāṭha. Pearl-stringing.
• Saguṇa-abhinava. Fresh-saguṇa.
• Mōkṣa-na-yē. Not-pursued.
• Abhaya-dāna. Petition.

Related verses

• Abhanga 2448 — The easiest path to God is repeating divine names with love at home, right where you are,
• Abhanga 2467 — What looks like your whole world, like a fig to the insect living inside it, is only a tin
• 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