Abhanga 3239
The joy of devotion and community you feel right now can be more precious than any future liberation, so there is no need to rush past it.
The verse
डौरलों भक्तिसुखें । सेवूं अमृत हें मुखें ॥१॥
संतसंगें सारूं काळ । प्रेमसुखाचा कल्लोळ ॥ध्रु.॥
ब्रम्हादिकांसी सुराणी । तो हा आनंद मेदिनी ॥२॥
नाहीं वैकुंठींचा पांग । धांवे कथे पांडुरंग ॥३॥
मुक्त व्हावें काशासाठीं । कैची येणें रसें भेटी ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे गोड । हें चि पुरे माझें कोड ॥५॥
Literal translation
Ḍauralōm bhakti-sukhe — I am drenched in bhakti-sukha; sevūm amrta he mukhe — with mouth, I partake amrta. Sant-sange sārūm kāḷa — with sant-sanga, pass kāḷa; prema-sukhāñcā kallōḷa — tide of prema-sukha. Brahmādikāmsī surāṇī — for Brahmā and others, deepest-sleep; tō hā ānanda medinī — this ānanda on (the) earth. Nāhī Vaikuṇṭhīmñcā pānga — no need of Vaikuṇṭha; dhāve kathe Pāṇḍuranga — Pāṇḍuranga runs to kathā. Mukta hvāve kāśāsāṭīm — why be mukta; kaichī yeṇe rase bhēṭī — what bhēṭī by (foregoing) this rasa. Tukā mhaṇe gōḍa — Tukā says: sweet; he chi pure mājhe kōḍa — this fulfils my kōḍa.
What it means
A canonical 5-verse bhakti-here-suffices text by Tukārām.
The radical-claim: bhakti-sukha-here-on-earth is what-Brahmā-and-others-deeply-seek; no-need-of-Vaikuṇṭha; Pāṇḍuranga-himself-runs-to-kathā. Why-be-mukta? — mukti-would-end-this-rasa-bhēṭī. Bhakti-rasa is preferred-over-mukti.
Compare-Tukārām's 2657 (yoga-vs-bhakti), 2934 (Vedānta-carries-water-at-Hari-bhakta's-house), 3043 (bhakti-makes-any-place-uttama).
For someone today
Tukārām's bhakti-here-suffices text. I am drenched in bhakti-sukha; with (my) mouth, I partake amrta. With sant-sanga, (I) pass kāḷa — the tide-wave of prema-sukha. For Brahmā and others, (this is) the deepest-sleep (hard-to-reach); here, this ānanda (is) on the earth. There is no need of Vaikuṇṭha — Pāṇḍuranga runs to attend the kathā. Why be mukta? — what bhēṭī (would there be) by (foregoing) this rasa? Sweet — this fulfils my desire. The verse permits the canonical bhakti-preference: this-rasa-here over-mukti-elsewhere.
Where this applies
- When you catch yourself chasing a distant spiritual goal instead of enjoying the practice you're already doing
- When singing, praying or being with a like-minded community gives you unexpected joy
- When you wonder whether happiness has to wait for some future achievement
- When you feel torn between wanting a cherished experience to end well and wanting it to continue forever