Abhanga 2855
Calling on the divine name with real feeling, not empty ritual, is enough on its own to undo guilt, quiet fear, and end the need for elaborate spiritual striving.
The verse
हरि म्हणतां गति पातकें नासती । कळिकाळ कांपती हरि म्हणतां ॥१॥
हरि म्हणतां भक्ति हरि म्हणतां मुक्ति । चुके यातायाती हरि म्हणतां ॥ध्रु.॥
तपें अनुष्ठानें न लगती साधनें । तुटती बंधनें हरि म्हणतां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे भावें जपा हरिचें नाम । मग काळयम शरण तुम्हा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Hari mhaṇatām gati pātake nāsatī — (at)Harisaying —gati(good-destiny) (happens);pātake(sins) are destroyed; kaḷi-kāḷa kāmpatī Hari mhaṇatām — kaḷi-kāḷatrembles atHarisaying. Hari mhaṇatām bhakti — (at)Harisaying — bhakti; Hari mhaṇatām mukti — (at)Harisaying — mukti; chuke yātāyātī Hari mhaṇatām — theyātāyātī(going-and-coming, transmigration) ends atHarisaying. Tape anuṣṭhāne na lagatī sādhane — tapa, anuṣṭhāna, sādhanas — are notlagatī(needed); tuṭatī bandhane Hari mhaṇatām — bandhanaare cut atHarisaying. Tukā says: bhāve japā Hari-cha nāma — japa Hari's Nāma withbhāva; maga kāḷa-yama śaraṇa tumhām — thenkāḷaandyama(will be)śaraṇa(refuge-seeking, surrendering) to you.
What it means
A canonical Hari-saying-everything-happens Name-mahima verse. The structure is repetitive ritual-litany — each phrase has Hari mhaṇatām (at-Hari-saying) at the end, hammering-home the Name's-power.
Verse 1: Hari mhaṇatām gati pātake nāsatī — kaḷi-kāḷa kāmpatī Hari mhaṇatām — Hari saying — gati comes, pātakas destroyed — Kali-time trembles. The destruction-of-sins + trembling-of-Kali-time claim.
Dhrūpada: Hari mhaṇatām bhakti — Hari mhaṇatām mukti — chuke yātāyātī Hari mhaṇatām — Hari saying — bhakti; Hari saying — mukti; transmigration ends. The triple-yield of Name-saying: bhakti, mukti, end-of-transmigration.
Verse 2: Tape anuṣṭhāne na lagatī sādhane — tuṭatī bandhane Hari mhaṇatām — tapa-anuṣṭhāna-sādhana not needed; bandhana cut at Hari saying. The Name-replaces-all-other-practices claim. (Pairs with 2841's no-tapa-no-vanavāsa claim.)
Close: Tukā mhaṇe bhāve japā Hari-cha nāma — maga kāḷa-yama śaraṇa tumhām — bhāve japa Hari Name — then kāḷa-yama (become) śaraṇa to you. The reversal-image: normally bhaktas seek śaraṇa with the Lord; but for-the-Hari-japaka, kāḷa-yama themselves come-as-śaraṇa-seeking. The radical-claim.
For someone today
This is a joyful hymn to the power of simply saying the Lord's Name. Just by saying Hari's name, sins fall away and a good destiny opens up; even the terrors of this troubled age tremble at it. Saying the Name brings devotion, brings liberation, and ends the endless cycle of coming and going. You don't need elaborate austerities, rituals, or disciplines, bondage is cut simply by saying it. But Tuka is clear about the condition: chant Hari's Name with real feeling, not as an empty habit, and death and time itself will bow down and surrender to you.
मराठी: हे परमेश्वराच्या नामाच्या सामर्थ्यावरचे आनंददायी स्तवन आहे. केवळ हरिनाम घेतल्याने पापे नष्ट होतात आणि उत्तम गती लाभते; या कलियुगातील भयही त्यापुढे थरथरते. नाम घेतल्याने भक्ती मिळते, मुक्ती मिळते, आणि जन्ममरणाचे फेरे संपतात. यासाठी कठोर तपश्चर्या, विधी किंवा साधनांची गरज नाही — नाम घेताच बंधने तुटतात. पण तुकाराम महाराज स्पष्ट अट घालतात — हरिनाम भावपूर्वक घ्या, निव्वळ सवयीने नव्हे, तरच काळ आणि यमही तुमच्यापुढे शरण येतील.
Where this applies
- When you feel weighed down by past mistakes and don't know how to make peace with them
- When you're drawn to elaborate rituals or self-punishing discipline but don't have the time or resources for them
- When the fear of death or the passage of time feels overwhelming
- When you keep repeating a practice out of habit and wonder why it doesn't seem to change anything