Abhanga 2879
Saying God's name costs you nothing and disqualifies no one, so there is no reason to fear doing it, anytime, anywhere.
The verse
काय देवें खातां घेतलें हातींचें । आलें हें तयाचें थोर भय ॥१॥
म्हणतां गजरें राम एकसरें । जळती पापें थोरें भयधाकें ॥ध्रु.॥
काय खोळंबले हात पाय अंग । नाशिलें हें सांग रूप काय ॥२॥
कोण लोकीं सांगा घातला बाहेरी । म्हणतां हरि हरि तुका म्हणे ॥३॥
Literal translation
Kāya Deve khātām ghetale hāte — what did Deva take from (your) hand while (you were) eating?; āle he tayāñce thōra bhaya — the greatbhaya(fear) — has come to him (Yama-or-Kāḷa). Mhaṇatām gajare Rāma ekasare — when sayingRāmawithgajara(loud-thunder),ekasare(at-once); jaḷatī pāpe thōre bhaya-dhāke — thepāpasburn with greatbhaya-dhāka(fear-and-trembling). Kāya khōḷambale hāta pāya anga — what gotkhōḷambale(caught, hindered) — of (your) hands, feet, body?; nāśile he sānga rūpa kāya — has this destroyed anyrūpa(form, appearance) — tell (me). Kōṇa lōkī sāngā ghātalā bāherī — in whichloka— tell me — has (anyone) been cast out; mhaṇatām Hari Hari Tukā mhaṇe — by sayingHari Hari— Tukā says.
What it means
A canonical anti-fear-of-saying-the-Name verse. The verse-form is a series of rhetorical-challenges to those who hesitate-to-say-the-Name.
Kāya Deve khātām ghetale hāte — āle he tayāñce thōra bhaya — what did Deva take from your hand while eating? — great fear has come to him. The cryptic opening: Deva took-nothing-from-you when-you-were-eating; (yet) great-fear has come — to him (i.e., Yama, Kāḷa) — at the saying-of-the-Name. The Lord-takes-nothing; only-pāpa-and-Yama-suffer-at-Name-saying.
Mhaṇatām gajare Rāma ekasare — jaḷatī pāpe thōre bhaya-dhāke — when saying Rāma loudly at-once — great pāpas burn with fear-and-trembling. The gajare (loud-thunderous) Name-saying burns the pāpas with fear. (Pairs with 2855 Hari mhaṇatām pātake nāsatī.)
Kāya khōḷambale hāta pāya anga — nāśile he sānga rūpa kāya — what got caught — of (your) hands, feet, body? — has this destroyed any form? The challenge: did saying-the-Name hurt your hands, feet, body? — did it destroy any form? (No — it costs nothing.)
Kōṇa lōkī sāngā ghātalā bāherī — mhaṇatām Hari Hari — in which world has anyone been cast out — by saying Hari Hari? The clinching-rhetoric: no one anywhere has been disqualified-or-cast-out for-saying-Hari-Hari. The Name has no-cost, no-disqualification.
For someone today
A canonical claim that no one is disqualified from saying Hari's name. What did Deva take from your hand while eating? — Great fear has come to him (Yama). When saying Rāma loudly at once — great pāpas burn with fear-and-trembling. What got stuck of your hands-feet-body? — has it destroyed any form? — tell me. In which world has anyone been cast out by saying Hari Hari? Three operative rhetorical questions: (1) Did Deva take anything from you?; (2) Did saying the Name hurt anything?; (3) Has anyone anywhere been disqualified for saying Hari? All answers are no. The verse permits fearless Name-saying anytime, anywhere, by anyone.
मराठी: हा हरिनाम घेण्यास कोणीही अपात्र नाही असा दावा करणारा अभंग आहे. तू जेवत असताना देवाने तुझ्या हातातून काय घेतले? — त्यालाच (यमाला) मोठे भय आले आहे. गजराने राम एकसारे म्हणताच — मोठी पापे भय-धाक्याने जळून जातात. तुझे हात-पाय-शरीर काय अडखळले? — काही रूप नाश पावले का — सांग. कोणत्या लोकी, सांगा, हरि हरि म्हणून कोणाला बाहेर घातले गेले? तीन प्रभावी प्रश्न : (१) देवाने तुझ्याकडून काही घेतले का?; (२) नाम घेतल्याने काही दुखापत झाली का?; (३) हरि म्हणून कोणी कधी अपात्र ठरले का? सर्व उत्तरे नाही अशीच आहेत. हा अभंग सांगतो की कोणीही, कधीही, कोठेही निर्भयपणे नाम घेऊ शकतो.
Where this applies
- When you feel embarrassed to chant or say God's name out loud in front of others
- When you worry that you are not pure or qualified enough to call on God
- When guilt over past mistakes makes you hesitate to pray
- When you keep postponing a devotional practice waiting for the 'right' moment