संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3215 of 4582

Abhanga 3215

Simply singing of the divine, without elaborate rituals, can wash over a whole life, ease the fear of mortality, and let a person forget worldly suffering while singing.

When you assume real spiritual practice requires elaborate rituals you don't have access to.

When fear of death or time running out is weighing on you.

When you're so identified with bodily comfort that you can't set worries down.

The verse

संसाराच्या नांवें घालूनियां शून्य । वाढता हा पुण्य केला धर्म ॥१॥ हरिभजनें हें धवळिलें जग । चुकविला लाग कळिकाळाचा ॥ध्रु.॥ कोणां ही नलगे साधनांचा पांग । करणें केला त्याग देहबुद्धी ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे सुख समाधि हरिकथा । नेणें भववेथा गाईंल तो ॥३॥

Literal translation

To-samsāra-name throw-śūnya; puṇya-grows, dharma-made. By-Hari-bhajan, jagat-dhavaḷile, kaḷikāḷa-lāga-chukavilā. No-need-of-sādhana-panga; deha-buddhi-tyāga. Tukā: sukha-samādhi is-Harikathā; the-singer doesn't-know-bhava-vyathā.

What it means

A canonical 3-verse democratization-text. Throw-samsāra-into-zero by-Hari-bhajan; no-sādhana-load needed; abandon-deha-buddhi; Hari-kathā is sukha-samādhi.

For someone today

Tukārām's democratization: Hari-bhajan-itself whitewashes-life; the-Hari-singer doesn't-know-suffering.

Where this applies

When you feel spiritual growth requires complicated rituals you can't manage
When you're anxious about mortality or the passage of time
When you're too identified with your body's comfort or discomfort
When singing or reciting something meaningful lifts your worldly worries, even briefly