Abhanga 2059

Letting go of social shame freed Tukaram to cross life's ocean on a raft made simply of loving repetition of God's name, and now he calls others to cross too.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

Cross-shame-cross-bhava-ocean + Nāma-raft abhang.

The opening — shame-transgressed: ulanghilī lāja — tēṇē sādhiyēlē kāja — shame transgressed — by that, the business was accomplished. Transgressing-shame brought-the-bhakti-business-to-accomplishment (echoing 1986 sāṇḍūniyām lāja nāchēna).

The further-shore-dance: sukhē nāchē pailatīrīm — gēlōm bhavāchē sāgarīm — dance happily on the further-shore — I crossed the bhava-ocean. Already-on-the-further-shore, dancing-happily; the bhava-ocean crossed.

THE NĀMA-RAFT: Nāmāchī sāngaḍī — sukhē bāndhalī āvaḍī — the Nāma-raft — love bound (it) with sukha. Sāngaḍī = raft made of two-rafts tied together. The Nāma-raft, bound-by-love-and-sukha.

The closing: Tukā mhaṇē lōkām — uralī vāchā mārīm hākā — Tuka says: to people — the surviving voice calls out. The voice-that-survived calls-out to-the-people (= Tukārām calls-others to-cross-too).

[T]

For someone today

For today: shame transgressed — by that, business was accomplished; dance happily on the further-shore — I crossed the bhava-ocean; the Nāma-raft — love bound it with sukha; Tuka says — to people — the surviving voice calls out.

Where this applies

• When you hold back from praising or singing to God out loud because you're afraid of looking foolish
• When you're weighed down by everyday struggles and doubt whether you'll ever get through them
• When you're looking for a simple practice, like chanting a name you love, to hold onto during hard times
• When you've found something that carried you through and you want to invite others still struggling to try it

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