Abhanga 2382
Tukaram issues a bold public challenge to name a single person who sincerely relied on the Name and was not helped by it, since he claims no such person exists.
The verse
नाम घेतां वांयां गेलां । ऐसा कोणें आईंकिला ॥१॥ सांगा विनवितों तुम्हांसी । संत महंत सद्धि ॠषी ॥ध्रु.॥ नामें तरला नाहीं कोण । ऐसा द्यावा निवडून ॥२॥ सलगीच्या उत्तरा । तुका म्हणे क्षमा करा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Name taken in-vain — who has heard such. Tell me, I beg you — saints, mahants, siddhas, ṛṣis. Name the one who has NOT crossed by the Name — bring such a one forth. Tuka says: forgive my familiar response.
What it means
THE CHALLENGE-TO-NAME-A-FAILURE ABHANG.
The opening-challenge: nāma ghētām vāmyām gēlām — aiśā kōṇē ā'īmkilā — Name taken in-vain — who has heard such. Who-has-heard of-Name being-taken-in-vain (= without-effect)?
The witness-call: sāngā vinavitōm tumhāmsī — santa mahanta saddhi ṛṣī — tell me, I beg — saints, mahants, siddhas, ṛṣis. I-beg the-saints, mahants, siddhas, ṛṣis: tell-me.
THE FAMOUS CHALLENGE: nāmē taralā nāhīm kōṇa — aiśā dyāvā nivaḍūna — name the one who has NOT crossed by the Name — bring such forth. Name-the-one-who-has-NOT-crossed by-the-Name; bring-such-a-one forth. A celebrated rhetorical-challenge: no-such-failed-bhakta exists; the-Name has-no-failure-cases.
The closing — apology: Tukā mhaṇē kṣamā karā — salagīchyā uttarā — Tuka says: forgive my familiar response. Salagī = familiarity, impertinence. Forgive-my-familiar (= bold) response.
[T]
For someone today
For today: Name-in-vain — unheard-of; saints-and-siddhas, tell me; name the one who has NOT crossed by the Name ; forgive my familiarity.
Where this applies
- When you want to test a belief by openly asking whether it has ever failed anyone you know
- When you are building confidence in a practice based on your own lived experience rather than theory
- When you speak boldly about something you have tested, then soften your tone to stay humble
- When you are deciding whether to trust a claim that has held up consistently over time