संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 2381 of 4582

Abhanga 2381

For today: Name has no-price; just two letters — Rāma Rāma; no caste, no religion, no jāti — all included in the Name ; Name is chaitanya's own dhāma.

When you begin a simple practice without waiting for permission or special credentials

When you treat someone as an equal regardless of their background or social standing

When you remind yourself that something meaningful does not require money or status to access

The verse

नाम घेतां न लगे मोल । नाममंत्र नाहीं खोल ॥१॥ दों अक्षरांचें काम । उच्चारावें राम राम ॥ध्रु.॥ नाहीं वर्णाधमयाती । नामीं अवघीं चि सरतीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नाम । चैतन्य निजधाम ॥३॥

Literal translation

Taking the Name no-price — Name-mantra not-deep. Two-letters' work — utter Rāma Rāma. No caste-religion-jāti — all included in the Name. Tuka says: Name — chaitanya's own dhāma.

What it means

THE FREE 2-LETTER NAME-MANTRA + NO-CASTE-IN-NAME ABHANG. One of the most-egalitarian bhakti-poems in the corpus.

THE FREE-NAME: nāma ghētām na lagē mōla — nāma-mantra nāhīm khōla — taking the Name no-price — Name-mantra not-deep. Taking-the-Name has-no-price; the-Name-mantra is-not-deep (= esoteric, requiring-Brahmin-initiation).

THE TWO-LETTER MANTRA: dōm akṣarāñchē kāma — uchchārāvē Rāma Rāma — two-letters' work — utter Rāma Rāma. Just-two-letters' work — utter "Rāma Rāma". A direct-critique of-elaborate Vedic-mantra-systems that-require-priest-initiation and-Sanskrit-knowledge.

THE FAMOUS NO-CASTE-IN-NAME LINE: nāhīm varṇā-dhama-yātī — nāmīm avaghī chi saratī — no caste-religion-jāti — all included in the Name. Varṇa = caste. Dharma = religion-stage. Jāti = birth-group. No-caste, no-religion-stage, no-jāti (= no-birth-distinction) — all-are-included in-the-Name. One of Tukārām's most-quoted egalitarian-bhakti-formulas: the-Name transcends-all-social-divisions.

The closing — Name-as-chaitanya-dhāma: Tukā mhaṇē nāma — chaitanya-nija-dhāma — Tuka says: Name — chaitanya's own dhāma. The Name is-the-very-abode-of-pure-consciousness.

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For someone today

For today: Name has no-price; just two letters — Rāma Rāma; no caste, no religion, no jāti — all included in the Name ; Name is chaitanya's own dhāma.

Where this applies

When someone feels excluded from spiritual practice because of their background or status
When you are tempted to think you need special training or credentials before you can begin
When you want to remind yourself that a simple daily practice is genuinely enough
When you are deciding whether wealth or social standing should determine who gets access to something meaningful