Abhanga 3103
V1: Māyā-jāḷa breaks, bhava-sindhu shatters — if fondness arises for Hari-nāma V2 (dhrva): Doing other karma-dharma in this Kali — who has crossed by it?
The verse
तुटे मायाजाळ विघडे भवसिंधू । जरि लागे छंदु हरिनामें ॥१॥
येर कर्म धर्म करितां ये कळी । माजी तरला बळी कोण सांगा ॥ध्रु.॥
न पढवे वेद नव्हे शास्त्रबोध । नामाचे प्रबंध पाठ करा ॥२॥
न साधवे योग न करवे वैराग्य । साधा भक्तिभाग्य संतसंगें ॥३॥
नव्हे अनुष्ठान न कळे ब्रम्हज्ञान । करावी सोपान कृष्णकथा ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे वर्म दावियेलें संतीं । यापरती विश्रांति आणिक नाहीं ॥५॥
Literal translation
V1: Māyā-jāḷa breaks, bhava-sindhu shatters — if fondness arises for Hari-nāma V2 (dhrva): Doing other karma-dharma in this Kali — who has crossed by it? V3: Can't recite Veda, no śāstra-bōdha — make pāṭha of Name-prabandha V4: Can't do yoga, can't do vairāgya — earn bhakti-bhāgya by sant-sanga V5: No anuṣṭhāna, no brahma-jñāna — make Krṣṇa-kathā (the) sopāna V6 (closing): Sants showed the varma — no other viśrāntī beyond
What it means
★ A canonical 5-verse bhakti-democratization-by-alternatives text by Tukārām.
The structural-method: for-each-difficulty pair-an-accessible-substitute: - Can't-recite-Veda? → recite-Name-prabandha - Can't-do-yoga-or-vairāgya? → sant-sanga - No-anuṣṭhāna-or-brahma-jñāna? → Krṣṇa-kathā-as-sopāna (ladder)
★ This is one-of-the-most-democratic Vārkarī-foundational-texts. Every-traditional-difficulty has-an-accessible-bhakti-alternative. The Name, the-sant-sanga, the-Krṣṇa-kathā — these-are the-accessible-paths.
The opening-claim: māyā-jāḷa-breaks, bhava-sindhu-shatters by-Hari-nāma-fondness. The closing-summary: sants-showed-the-varma; no-other-viśrāntī.
Compare-Tukārām's-own 2448 (Nāma-sankīrtana-sopa — THE most-famous Name-sankīrtana abhang), 2657 (canonical-yoga-vs-bhakti), 3054 (brahma-jñāna-hard, serve-sant-pāya).
For someone today
Tukārām's canonical bhakti-democratization. The māyā-net breaks, the bhava-ocean shatters — if one becomes fond of the Hari-name. Doing other karma-dharma in this Kali — who has crossed? — tell me. (If you) cannot recite the Veda — (if you) have no śāstra-bōdha — make recitation of the Name's poems. (If) yoga cannot be done — (if) vairāgya cannot be done — earn bhakti-fortune by sant-company. (If) there is no anuṣṭhāna — (if) brahma-jñāna is not known — make Krṣṇa-kathā (the) ladder. The sants showed the secret — beyond this, there is no other restfulness. The verse permits the canonical bhakti-democratization: each-difficulty-has-an-accessible-Name-or-sanga-substitute.
Where this applies
- ★ Canonical bhakti-democratization-by-alternatives text
- 3 alternative-pairs: Veda → Name-prabandha; yoga/vairāgya → sant-sanga; anuṣṭhāna/brahma-jñāna → Krṣṇa-kathā
- Companion to 2448, 2657, 3054