Abhanga 1998

Devotion is a free, open market where anyone can take the joy of the Name; the only requirement is a pure and honest heart.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Bhakti-as-shop-in-sukha-market abhang.

The opening — bhakta as merchant: bhakti-bhāva āmhī bāndhilāsē gāṭhī — sādhāvitōm hāṭīm ghyā rē kōṇī — we have tied bhakti-bhāva in a knot — we sell at the market, take, anyone. Tukārām (whose own family-trade was money-lending/grocery) frames bhakti-as-merchandise: come-to-the-market and-take.

The shop: sukhāciyā pēṇṭhē ghātalā dukāna — māṇḍiyēlē vāna Rāma-Nāma — opened a shop in the sukha-market — spread out the goods, Rāma-Nāma. Pēṇṭhē = bazaar, market-row. Vāna = merchandise. The shop-in-the-sukha-market sells Rāma-Nāma as-goods.

The free-essence: sukhāchē phukāchē sakaḷāñchē sāra — tarāvayā pāra bhava-sindhu — sukha for free — essence of all — to ferry across bhava-sindhu. Phukā = free, no-cost. Free-sukha; the-essence-of-all; ferries-across the-bhava-ocean. A radically-democratic bhakti: the goods are free; anyone can take.

The precedent: māgē bhāgyavanta jālē thōra thōra — tihīm kēlā phāra hā chi sāṇṭā — the great-fortunate ones of the past — made this their stock-in-trade. Saints-of-the-past traded-in-this-very-thing.

The closing: khōṭē kuḍē tēthē nāhīm ghāta-pāta — Tukā mhaṇē chitta śuddha karī — no false-broken, no harm-or-blow — Tuka says: make chitta pure. No counterfeits, no scams; only-pure-chitta required as-currency.

[T]

For someone today

For today: we have tied bhakti-bhāva in a knot — we sell at the market, take, anyone; opened a shop in the sukha-market — spread out the goods, Rāma-Nāma; sukha for free — essence of all — to ferry across the bhava-sindhu; the great-fortunate ones of the past — made this their stock-in-trade; no false-broken, no harm-or-blow there — Tuka says — make the chitta pure.

Where this applies

• When you assume spiritual peace is only for the privileged, the learned, or the lucky.
• When you're exhausted from trying to earn your way into feeling whole.
• When you distrust anything that seems too simple or too good to be true.
• When you look to elders or predecessors for proof that a simple daily practice really works.

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