Abhanga 2879
Kāya Deve khātām ghetale hāte — what did Deva take from (your) hand while (you were) eating?; āle he tayāñce thōra bhaya — the great bhaya (fear) — has come to him (Yama-or-Kāḷa).
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 great bhaya (fear) — has come to him (Yama-or-Kāḷa). Mhaṇatām gajare Rāma ekasare — when saying Rāma with gajara (loud-thunder), ekasare (at-once); jaḷatī pāpe thōre bhaya-dhāke — the pāpas burn with great bhaya-dhāka (fear-and-trembling). Kāya khōḷambale hāta pāya anga — what got khōḷambale (caught, hindered) — of (your) hands, feet, body?; nāśile he sānga rūpa kāya — has this destroyed any rūpa (form, appearance) — tell (me). Kōṇa lōkī sāngā ghātalā bāherī — in which loka — tell me — has (anyone) been cast out; mhaṇatām Hari Hari Tukā mhaṇe — by saying Hari 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 no-disqualification-from-saying-Hari claim. 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.
Where this applies
- The canonical no-disqualification-from-saying-Hari claim
- Recognizing saying-Rāma-with-gajara burns pāpas
- Anti-fear-of-saying-Name diagnostic
- Pairs with 2855 (Hari-mhaṇatām Name-mahima), 2864 (clap-hands kīrtana)