Abhanga 2919
Tukaram teaches that singing devotion to Vitthal already contains everything needed, so kirtana alone, without ritual or austerity, is a complete and sufficient path to liberation.
The verse
जप तप ध्यान न लगे धारणा । विठ्ठलकीर्त्तनामाजी सर्व ॥१॥
राहें माझ्या मना दृढ या वचनीं । आणिक तें मनीं न धरावें ॥ध्रु.॥
कीर्तनसमाधि साधन ते मुद्रा । राहतील थारा धरोनियां ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मुक्ति हरिदासांच्या घरीं । वोळगती चारी ॠद्धिसिद्धि ॥३॥
Literal translation
Japa tapa dhyāna na lage dhāraṇā — japa,tapa,dhyāna,dhāraṇāare not needed; Viṭhṭhala-kīrttanā-māji sarva — everything (is) in Viṭhṭhal-kīrtana. Rāhe mājhyā manā drḍha yā vachanī — (O) my mind, stay firm in thisvachana; āṇika te manī na dharāve — don't hold any other in mind. Kīrtana-samādhi sādhana te mudrā — kīrtana-samādhi(is) thesādhanaand themudrā; rāhatīla thārā dharōnīyām — they will stay (by) holding (this)thāra(support). Tukā says: mukti Hari-dāsāñcyā gharī — mukti (is) in the house of Hari-dāsas; vōḷagatī chārī rddhi-siddhi — the fourrddhi-siddhiattend (them).
What it means
THE canonical 3-verse kīrtana-supremacy text. Japa tapa dhyāna na lage dhāraṇā — Viṭhṭhala-kīrttanā-māji sarva — japa, tapa, dhyāna, dhāraṇā are not needed — everything is in Viṭṭhal-kīrtana. The foundational-Vārkarī-claim: the formal-yogic-disciplines (japa, tapa, dhyāna, dhāraṇā) are unnecessary; everything is contained in Viṭṭhal-kīrtana.
Rāhe mājhyā manā drḍha yā vachanī — āṇika te manī na dharāve — stay firm in this word — don't hold any other. The discipline: don't-let-the-mind wander to other-disciplines.
Kīrtana-samādhi sādhana te mudrā — rāhatīla thārā dharōnīyām — kīrtana-samādhi is the sādhana and the mudrā — (they) stay (by) holding (this) thāra. The kīrtana-samādhi — the samādhi-state achieved-through-kīrtana — is both the sādhana (practice) and the mudrā (seal, sign). They stay-as-long-as one holds-the-kīrtana-support.
The close: Tukā mhaṇe mukti Hari-dāsāñcyā gharī — vōḷagatī chārī rddhi-siddhi — mukti is in the house of Hari-dāsas — the four rddhi-siddhi attend. The eschatological-claim: mukti is at-the-Hari-dāsa-house; even the four-rddhis-and-eight-siddhis come-as-attendants. The bhakti-supremacy over all-yogic-attainments.
For someone today
Tukaram says you don't need chanting, austerity, meditation, or elaborate concentration practices — everything you need is already contained in singing Vitthal's praise. Stay firm in this, he tells his own mind, and don't let yourself wander toward other paths. The absorbed, joyful state that comes through this singing is itself both the practice and its seal. He says liberation lives in the home of those who devote themselves to Hari this way, with even the powers and blessings people chase after showing up there on their own, simply in attendance.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की जप, तप, ध्यान किंवा कठीण साधना यांची गरज नाही — विठ्ठलाच्या कीर्तनातच सर्व काही सामावलेले आहे. मना, या शब्दावर ठाम राहा, ते म्हणतात, आणि दुसऱ्या कशाच्या मागे लागू नको. या गाण्यातून येणारी तल्लीन, आनंदी अवस्था हीच खरी साधना आणि तिचा शिक्कामोर्तब आहे. ते म्हणतात मुक्ती अशा प्रकारे हरिभक्तांच्या घरीच वसते, आणि लोक ज्या ऋद्धि-सिद्धींच्या मागे धावतात त्याही आपणहून तिथे सेवेला हजर असतात.
Where this applies
- When you feel overwhelmed by the idea that spiritual growth requires complicated rituals or years of strict discipline
- When you find yourself fully absorbed in singing or chanting and wonder if that alone is enough
- When you are tempted to chase after many different practices instead of trusting one simple, heartfelt one
- When you doubt that a humble devotional life could hold as much value as more dramatic spiritual achievements