Abhanga 3628
Tukaram says that for the poor and the powerless especially, listening to stories of Hari is a genuine heap of joy, something freely available to them. These stories act like a boat that can carry anyone across the ocean of worldly struggle, and that boat is open equally to the high and the low, with no one excluded by rank or wealth. He tells us to speak of what God did in Gokul, to tell those stories out loud, and simply to hold onto love for them, trusting that grace will follow.
The verse
दीन आणि दुर्बळांसी । सुखरासी हरिकथा ॥१॥
तारूं भवसागरींचें । उंचनीच अधिकार ॥ध्रु.॥
चरित्र तें उच्चारावें । केलें देवें गोकुळीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आवडी धरीं । कृपा करी म्हणऊनी ॥३॥
Literal translation
Hari-kathā-sukha-rāśi-for-dīna-durbaḷa. Bhava-sāgar-tāru — uñcha-nīñcha-adhikāra. Speak-charitra-Deva-did-in-Gōkuḷa. Tukā: hold-āvaḍī — saying-he-does-krpā.
What it means
A 3-verse Hari-kathā text. For the destitute and weak, the kathā is a pile-of-sukha; a boat for crossing bhava — open to high-low alike; speak what Deva did in Gōkuḷa; hold the love, he gives krpā.
For someone today
Tukaram says that for the poor and the powerless especially, listening to stories of Hari is a genuine heap of joy, something freely available to them. These stories act like a boat that can carry anyone across the ocean of worldly struggle, and that boat is open equally to the high and the low, with no one excluded by rank or wealth. He tells us to speak of what God did in Gokul, to tell those stories out loud, and simply to hold onto love for them, trusting that grace will follow.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की गरीब आणि दुर्बळांसाठी हरिकथा ऐकणे हा खरोखर आनंदाचा साठा आहे, जो त्यांना सहज उपलब्ध आहे. या कथा संसारसागर पार करण्यासाठी एका नावेसारख्या असतात, आणि ती नाव उच्च आणि नीच सर्वांसाठी सारखीच खुली असते, कोणालाही दर्जा किंवा संपत्तीमुळे वगळले जात नाही. ते सांगतात की देवाने गोकुळात जे केले ते बोलून दाखवावे, त्या कथा मोठ्याने सांगाव्यात, आणि त्यांच्यावर फक्त प्रेम धरावे, कृपा आपोआप मिळेल यावर विश्वास ठेवावा.
Where this applies
- When you feel too poor, low-ranked, or powerless to deserve spiritual comfort, and need to know it is freely open to you
- When you are overwhelmed by worldly struggles and need something that feels like a boat carrying you across
- When you want to remind yourself that devotion has no separate rules for the rich and the poor, the high and the low
- When you find comfort simply in telling or hearing stories of what God has done