संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 1518 of 4582

Abhanga 1518

For today: the load of vidhi-niṣedha can't grasp Hari; only the name is the boat across the bhava-ocean; no other dhyāna or sādhana relish; even just the tiniest mark — a bindu — suffices.

When you'd see why vidhi-niṣedha can't reach Hari — only nāma is the boat; no other dhyāna; even a tiny mark suffices

The verse

विधिनिषेधाचा भारा । तेणें दातारा नातुडेसी ॥१॥ नाम तुझें हरी । भवसागरीं तारूं तें ॥ध्रु.॥ नाहीं आणीक ध्यान । रे साधन मज चाड ॥२॥ काना मात्र वांयांविण । तुका म्हणे बिंदुलीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Vidhi-niṣedha's bhāra — by that, Dātārā, you don't get caught. Your nāma, Hari — that is the tārūm on bhava-sāgara. No other dhyāna — sādhana relish for me. Tuka says: kāna-mātra without vāyām — by binduḷī.

मराठी: विधि-निषेधाचा — भारा; — तेणें — दातारा — नातुडेसी. नाम — तुझें — हरी; — भव-सागरीं — तारूं — तें. नाहीं — आणीक — ध्यान; — रे — साधन — मज — चाड. काना — मात्र — वांयांविण; — Tukā म्हणे — बिंदुलीं.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
विधिनिषेधाचा भारा "of vidhi-niṣedhabhāra (load)"
तेणें दातारा नातुडेसी "by that — Dātārā (Giver) — don't get caught (nātuḍēsī)"
नाम तुझें हरी "your nāmaHari"
भवसागरीं तारूं तें "in bhava-sāgarathat — is the boat (tārūm)"
नाहीं आणीक ध्यान "no other — dhyāna"
रे साधन मज चाड "sādhana — to me — cāḍa (= relish)"
काना मात्र वांयांविण "kāna-mātra — without vāyām"
तुका म्हणे बिंदुलीं "Tuka says — by binduḷī (= the dot / anusvāra)"

What it means

Vidhi-niṣedha-can't-grasp-Hari abhang. The opening: vidhi-niṣēdhācā bhārā — tēṇē Dātārā nātuḍēsīthe load of vidhi-niṣedha; — by that — Dātārā (Giver, Hari) — doesn't get caught. Hari is not graspable by piling-up vidhi-niṣedha-load. (Compare 1515's vidhi-niṣadha-ḍōha-Deva-na-kadhīm — same theme; here the not-graspable* version.)

The boat-claim: nāma tujhēm Harī — bhava-sāgarīm tārūm tēmyour nāma, Hari — in bhava-sāgara (= ocean of samsāra) — that — is the boat (tārūm). Only the name is the boat across the bhava-sāgara. (Compare 1509's nāva-aitī-baisā — boat ready, get on it; same theme.)

The exclusivity: nāhīm āṇīka dhyāna — rē sādhana maja cāḍano other dhyāna; — no sādhana-relish for me. Single-pointed-dependence on nāma*.

The closing-claim: kāna mātra vāyām-vīṇa — binduḷīkāna-mātra without vāyām — by the binduḷī (= the anusvāra-dot). The Devanagari-script-image: kāna (the kāna-mātra is the ā-sign / vowel-mark), vāyām (the waw / labial / extension-vāya-stroke) — and the binduḷī (= the anusvāra-dot, the smallest mark). Even just the smallest-mark of the name suffices — the bindu alone. (Striking-claim: the tiniest fraction of nāma already saves. Distinctive bhakti-formulation in script-imagery.)

[T]

For someone today

For today: the load of vidhi-niṣedha can't grasp Hari; only the name is the boat across the bhava-ocean; no other dhyāna or sādhana relish; even just the tiniest mark — a bindu — suffices.

Where this applies

Related verses