Abhanga 3097
V1: The paramātmā Śrīhari, far-beyond the 6-śāstras — plays Rāma in Daśaratha's house V2 (dhrva): Śiva's nija-deha, Vālmīka's nija-guhā — but eats Bhillaṭī's fruits as Śrīrāma V3: Yogis' minds can't catch in chintana —…
The verse
साही शास्त्रां अतिदुरी तो परमात्मा श्रीहरि । तो दशरथाचे घरीं क्रीडतो राम ॥१॥
शिवाचें निजदेह वाल्मीकाचें निजगुहे । तो भिल्लटीचीं फळें खाय श्रीराम तो ॥ध्रु.॥
योगियांचे मनीं नातुडे चिंतनीं । वानरांचे कानीं गोष्टी सांगे ॥२॥
चरणीं शिळा उद्धरी नामें गणिका तारी । तो कोळिया घरीं पाहुणा राम ॥३॥
क्षण एक सुरवरा नातुडे नमस्कारा । तो रिसा आणि वानरा क्षम दे राम ॥४॥
राम सांवळा सगुण राम योगियाचें ध्यान । राम राजीवलोचन तुका चरण वंदितो ॥५॥
Literal translation
V1: The paramātmā Śrīhari, far-beyond the 6-śāstras — plays Rāma in Daśaratha's house V2 (dhrva): Śiva's nija-deha, Vālmīka's nija-guhā — but eats Bhillaṭī's fruits as Śrīrāma V3: Yogis' minds can't catch in chintana — but tells stories to vānaras' ears V4: Stone (Ahalyā) uplifted by feet, Gaṇikā taken-across by Name — but a guest at Kōḷī's house V5: Not caught by suras' namaskāra for one kṣaṇa — but shows mercy to bear (Jāmbavāna) and monkey (Hanumāna) V6 (closing): Rāma sāvaḷā saguṇa, Rāma yōgi's-dhyāna, Rāma rājīvalōchana — Tukā vandates (his) feet
What it means
★ A canonical 5-verse Rāma-stotra-with-paradoxes by Tukārām.
★★ Each-verse-pairs a-cosmic-high-claim with-an-earthly-low-act: 1. Far-beyond-6-śāstras / plays-in-Daśaratha's-house 2. Śiva's-deha, Vālmīka's-guhā / eats-Bhillaṭī's-fruits 3. Yogi-mind-doesn't-catch-in-chintana / tells-vānaras-stories 4. Stone-uplifted, Gaṇikā-saved / guest-at-Kōḷī's-house 5. Suras-can't-grasp-in-one-namaskāra / mercy-to-bear-and-monkey
★ The paradox: Rāma-is-simultaneously transcendent-cosmic and intimately-low-domestic. The yogi's-meditation-misses-him; the-vānara-(monkey)-and-bear-receive-his-mercy. The 6-śāstras can't-reach; Daśaratha's-house-holds-him.
The 6-verse-Rāma-stotra closing (Rāma sāvaḷā saguṇa, Rāma yōgi's-dhyāna, Rāma rājīvalōchana — Tukā vandates feet) is one-of-the-most-beautiful Rāma-praises in the Tukārām-corpus.
Compare-Tukārām's 3066 (Jñāneśvara-praise), 3044 (12-verse-avatāra-stotra), 2810 (saints-list with-Rohidāsa-and-Sajana-Kasāī from-bhakti-traditions parallel-to-Bhillaṭī-and-Kōḷī).
For someone today
Tukārām's Rāma-stotra-with-paradoxes. The paramātmā Śrīhari — far-beyond the 6-śāstras — plays (as) Rāma in Daśaratha's house. Śiva's own-body, Vālmīka's own-cave — but he eats the fruits of Bhillaṭī (Śabarī) as Śrīrāma. The yogis' minds can't catch (him) in chintana — but he tells stories in the vānaras' ears. (He) uplifts a stone with (his) feet; takes a gaṇikā across by the Name — but he is a guest at the Kōḷī's (fisherman's) house. For one moment he is not caught in suras' namaskāra — but he shows mercy to bear and monkey. Rāma sāvaḷā-saguṇa, Rāma yogi's-dhyāna, Rāma rājīvalōchana — Tukā bows at the feet. The verse permits the canonical Rāma-paradox-bhakti: high-and-low-simultaneously.
Where this applies
- ★ Canonical Rāma-stotra with bhakti-paradoxes
- 5 paradox-pairs: cosmic-high / earthly-low
- Companion to 3044 (avatāra-stotra), 2810 (saints-list)