Abhanga 1295
Repeating the divine name burns away even your worst mistakes completely, and it does so easily and sweetly, more satisfying than any other pleasure.
The verse
बरवी नामावळी । तुझी महादोषां होळी ॥१॥ जालें आम्हांसी जीवन । धणीवरि हें सेवन ॥ध्रु.॥ सोपें आणि गोड । किती अमृता ही वाड ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे अच्युता । आमचा कल्पतरु दाता ॥३॥
Literal translation
Beautiful is your nāmāvaḷī — yours, the Holī-bonfire for mahā-dōṣas. (It) became life for us — drinking-to-the-brimming. Easy and sweet — by how much is even amṛta less-than (this)? Tuka says: Acyuta — (is) our kalpataru-dātā.
मराठी: बरवी नामावळी — तुझी महा-दोषांची होळी. आम्हांला जीवनच झाली — धणी-वरीं हें सेवन. सोपी आणि गोड — अमृता-हून हीच कितीतरी वाडी (वरचढ). Tukā म्हणे — अच्युता — आमचा कल्पतरु-दाता.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| बरवी नामावळी | "beautiful (baravī) is (your) nāmāvaḷī (chain-of-names)" |
| तुझी महादोषां होळी | "yours — for mahā-dōṣas — the hōḷī (Holī-bonfire)" |
| जालें आम्हांसी जीवन | "became — for us — jīvana (life)" |
| धणीवरि हें सेवन | "this drinking — to the dhaṇī (brimming)" |
| सोपें आणि गोड | "easy (sōpa) and gōḍa (sweet)" |
| किती अमृता ही वाड | "even amṛta — by how much is it vāḍa (less-than)?" |
| आमचा कल्पतरु दाता | "(our) Acyuta — (is) the kalpataru-dātā (wish-tree-giver)" |
What it means
Nāmāvaḷī-as-Holī-bonfire abhang. The image is festive: Holī (the spring full-moon festival) features a bonfire in which the year's accumulated waste is burnt. Tuka calls Hari's nāmāvaḷī (his chain-of-names — the thousand-and-eight names, the aṣṭottara-śata) the Holī-bonfire of mahā-dōṣas — the great-sins burn in this fire as the year's rubbish burns in Holī's flame.
The image is also colloquial: xācī hōḷī kēlī in Marathi means made a bonfire of x (= burnt it down completely). The nāmāvaḷī makes a bonfire of the mahā-dōṣas (the most-serious sins).
The closing — kitī amṛtā hī vāḍa — by how much is even amṛta vāḍa (less-than) (this)? The amṛta of the gods is less than the Hari-nāma-amṛta. Vāḍa = lesser-quality, the smaller side of a comparison.
Acyuta — āmacā kalpataru-dātā — Acyuta (the unfailing one) is our kalpataru-dātā (giver of the wish-fulfilling tree). The kalpataru is the cow-and-tree of heaven that gives whatever is asked; Hari himself is the giver of even that.
[T]
For someone today
For today: the nāmāvaḷī is the Holī-bonfire of mahā-dōṣas — easy, sweet, more than amṛta; drink to the brimming.
Where this applies
- Beautiful-name-chain. Baravī-nāmāvaḷī.
- Holī-of-mahā-dōṣas. Mahā-dōṣām-hōḷī.
- Brimming-sevana. Dhaṇī-vari-sēvana.
- More-than-amṛta. Amṛta-vāḍa.
- Kalpataru-dātā. Kalpataru-dātā.