Abhanga 3043
Wherever you remember God, that place becomes good, and that moment of remembrance, wherever it happens, is the real gain of your life.
The verse
जेथें आठवती स्वामीचे ते पाय । उत्तम ते ठाय रम्य स्थळ ॥१॥
रान अथवा घर एकांत लोकांत । समाधान चत्ति तें ते घडी ॥ध्रु.॥
धन्य तो हा काळ सरे आनंदरूप । वाहातां संकल्प गोविंदाचे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे लाभकाळ ते चि जीणें । भाग्य नारायण उत्तम तें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Jethe āṭhavatī svāmīñce te pāya — wherever the svāmī's pāya are recalled; uttama te ṭhāya ramya sthaḷa — that ṭhāya (place) is uttama, (and a) ramya-sthaḷa. Rāna athavā ghara ekānta lōkānta — forest or house, solitude or in-crowd; samādhāna chitta te te ghaḍī — the chitta has samādhāna at that very ghaḍī. Dhanya tō hā kāḷa sare ānanda-rūpa — blessed is that kāḷa — it passes as ānanda-rūpa; vāhātām samkalpa Govindāñce — carrying Govinda's samkalpa. Tukā mhaṇe lābha-kāḷa te chi jīṇe — Tukā says: (that) is the lābha-kāḷa, that is jīṇa; bhāgya Nārāyaṇa uttama te — bhāgya, Nārāyaṇa, uttama.
What it means
A canonical 3-verse bhakti-makes-any-place-uttama text by Tukārām.
The claim: Wherever-svāmī's-feet-are-recalled, that-place is-uttama-ramya. Forest-or-house, solitude-or-crowd — chitta-samādhāna at-that-moment. Dhanya this kāḷa goes-as-ānanda-rūpa, carrying-Govinda's-samkalpa. That-itself is lābha-kāḷa — jīṇa (true-life) — bhāgya — Nārāyaṇa — uttama.
The verse-resolves the forest-vs-house and-the-ekānta-vs-lōkānta dichotomies — where-bhakti-happens, the-place is-irrelevant. This is the bhakti-non-locational doctrine.
Compare-Tukārām's 2618 (mātalē-Vaiṣṇava-kīrtana-tableau — no-need-of-mokṣa-tīrtha-vana, whole-earth-is-Hari-Hara-self), 2867 (ṭhevilē-Anantē equanimity), 3036 (Paṇḍharī as-the-place).
For someone today
Tukārām's teaching that devotion makes any place excellent. Wherever the svāmī's pāya are recalled — that place is uttama, a delightful spot. Forest or house, solitude or in-crowd — the chitta has peace at that very moment. Blessed is that time — it passes as ānanda-rūpa — carrying Govinda's intention. That very (time) is the gain-time — that is life — fortune — Nārāyaṇa — uttama. The verse permits the bhakti-non-locational claim that the place itself is irrelevant — what matters is that bhakti happens there.
मराठी: जिथे स्वामींच्या पायांचे स्मरण होते, तिथेच उत्तम आणि रम्य स्थळ आहे, असे तुकाराम सांगतात. रान असो वा घर, एकांत असो वा गर्दी — त्या क्षणी चित्ताला समाधान लाभते. तो काळ धन्य होय — तो आनंदरूप होऊन सरतो — गोविंदाचा संकल्प वाहत असताना. तोच लाभाचा काळ — तेच खरे जगणे — तेच भाग्य — नारायण — तेच उत्तम. या अभंगातून हे कळते की भक्ती कुठेही होवो, स्थळ महत्त्वाचे नाही — महत्त्वाचे आहे ते तिथे भक्ती घडते हे.
Where this applies
- When you think you need to be in a special place, like a temple, to feel spiritually settled.
- When you're stuck at home or in an ordinary setting and crave a sense of peace.
- When you're surrounded by a crowd and still manage to find a moment of quiet inside yourself.