Abhanga 1062

True service earns true reward, comes from undivided commitment, and requires actually showing up where the one you serve is, not just claiming a bond from a distance.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

A by-being-a-warrior-the-true-wages-the-warrior-is-true-only-by-warrior-service-the-warrior-knows-the-body-being-killed-but-for-him-there-is-no-break-eaten-from-one-or-two-homes-the-warrior-is-selected-by-his-vow-doing-the-objective-let-the-master-give-the-glory-the-warrior's-name-is-true-substance-the-warrior-has-a-separate-place-without-going-to-the-master's-place-there-is-none abhang. Pāika-tō-nāva-khare-paṇa register. The warrior's name itself is true-substance. Five claims:

1. पाईक-पण-खरा-मुशारा — पाईकी-नें. True-wages-only-by-warrior-service-claim. Bypāika-paṇa, true muśārā (wages); thepāīkais true only bypāikī-nē (warrior-service).

2. पाईक-मारित-अंग — भंग-नाहीं. No-break-claim. Thepāīkaknows the body-being-killed; for him there is nobhanga (break).

3. एक-दोही-घर — पण-निवडला. Selected-by-vow-claim. Eaten from one or twogharī;the pāīka is nivaḍalā by paṇa (commitment, vow). (The pāika iswinnowed-out by his vow — once committed, he doesn't shop around.)

4. कारण-यश — खरेपण-नांव. Name-is-true-substance-claim. Doing thekāraṇa (objective), let the svāmī give yaśa;the pāīka's nāva is khare-paṇa (true-substance, integrity-itself).

5. Tuka: ठाव-निराळा — स्थळा-गेल्या-विण. Separate-place-must-go-to-svāmī-claim. Tuka says: thepāikahas a separateṭhāva;no svāmī without going to (his) sthaḷa. (The pāika has his own place in the camp — but there is no svāmī-relation without physically going to where the svāmī is.)

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For someone today

Tukaram says real wages only come from real service, you can't fake your way to earning them. A true servant is ready to risk his own body and doesn't flinch or break under that risk. Once he has committed himself, he doesn't keep sampling loyalty from one house and then another, his commitment settles the matter. He does the work and lets the master decide the credit, because his name's real worth comes from his integrity, not from claiming glory. And in the end, there's no relationship with the master without actually showing up at the master's place, you can't have the bond without doing the walking.

मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की खरी मजुरी फक्त खऱ्या सेवेतूनच मिळते, ती खोटेपणाने मिळवता येत नाही. खरा सेवक आपला जीव पणाला लावायला तयार असतो आणि त्या धोक्यापुढे डगमगत नाही. एकदा त्याने वचन दिले की तो एका घरातून दुसऱ्या घराकडे धावत नाही, त्याची निष्ठा एकनिष्ठ असते. तो काम करतो आणि यशाचे श्रेय स्वामीवर सोडतो, कारण त्याच्या नावाचे खरे मोल त्याच्या सचोटीत आहे, श्रेय मिळवण्यात नाही. आणि शेवटी, स्वामीच्या ठिकाणी प्रत्यक्ष जाल्याशिवाय स्वामीशी नाते जुळत नाही, फक्त बोलण्याने नाते तयार होत नाही.

Where this applies

• True-wages. Muśārā.
• No-break. Bhanga.
• Selected-by-vow. Paṇa.
• Khare-paṇa. Nāva.
• Must-go. Sthaḷa.

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