संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3600 of 4582

Abhanga 3600

Like a coin forged by repeated hammer blows and proven genuine by assay, a truly forged devotion keeps its value wherever you carry it.

When you patiently repeat a practice, blow by blow, until it forges into something solid and real

When you wonder whether your inner conviction would hold up if it were truly tested

When you carry something genuinely earned into unfamiliar territory and find it still holds its worth

The verse

करूनि कडविड । जमा घडिली लगड ॥१॥ आतां होतें तें चि जालें । नाम ठायींचें चांगलें ॥ध्रु.॥ उतरलें डाई । उत्तम ते सुलाख ताईं ॥२॥ हिंडवितां देश । तुका म्हणे नाहीं नाश ॥३॥

Literal translation

By-smithing-strike, lagaḍa-formed-collected. What-was-becoming-has-become — Name-from-place-chāngalē. Came-down-well-in-assay — uttama-is-sulākha-tāī. Wandering-country — Tukā: no-nāśa.

What it means

A 3-verse mint/coin-bhakti image. The smithing-blows have produced the ingot; what was-becoming has-become; the Name from-its-source is good; the assay confirms uttama as sulākha (a true coin); the coin can wander any country without loss. Companion to 3482 (kasī-agi-fire-test).

For someone today

Tukārām compares repeating the Name to forging a coin: blow after blow of the smith's hammer turns raw metal into a solid ingot, and what was slowly taking shape has finally become real. He says the Name, coming from its true source, is genuinely good, like metal that passes the assay test and proves itself to be a well-struck, trustworthy coin. And just like real currency, once that inner value is genuinely forged, you can carry it anywhere, through any country, and it never loses its worth.

मराठी: तुकाराम नामस्मरणाची तुलना नाणं घडवण्याशी करतात, लोहाराच्या घणाचे एकामागून एक घाव पडतात आणि कच्च्या धातूचा घट्ट लगड तयार होतो, जे हळूहळू घडत होतं ते आता खरोखर घडून आलं आहे. ते म्हणतात, खऱ्या स्रोतातून आलेलं नाम खरोखर चांगलं असतं, जसा धातू पारखीत उतरून खरा, चोख नाण्याचा दर्जा सिद्ध करतो. आणि खऱ्या नाण्याप्रमाणेच, एकदा हे आतलं मोल खरोखर घडलं की ते कुठेही, कोणत्याही देशात नेता येतं, आणि त्याची किंमत कधीच कमी होत नाही.

Where this applies

When repeated practice, done blow by blow like a smith's hammer, is slowly forging something solid inside you
When you wonder whether your devotion or effort is genuine enough to hold its value under testing
When you carry an inner strength or conviction with you into unfamiliar places and it doesn't fail you
When patient, repeated work finally turns into something you can trust completely