Abhanga 3638
Fine words do not bring you close to God, but God's wonder-working grace exceeds every account of merit, so simply offer your sincere devotion and trust it to reach fulfillment.
The verse
बोलिलिया गुणीं नाहीं पाविजेत । देवा नाहीं होत हित तेथें ॥१॥
कवतुक तुझें नवल यावरि । घेसील तें शिरीं काय नव्हे ॥ध्रु.॥
नाहीं मिळे येत संचिताच्या मता । पुराणीं पाहतां अघटित ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पायीं निरोपिला भाव । न्याल तैसा जाव सिद्धी देवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Bōliliyā guṇīm nāhīm pāvijeta — by spoken guṇas, (one is) not reached-to; Devā nāhīm hōta hita tethe — no hita happens to Deva thereby. Kavatuka tujhe navala yāvari — your kavatuka is a navala on-this; ghesīla te śirīm kāya navhe — what (you) take on head, what isn't (possible). Nāhīm miḷe yeta samchitāñcyā matā — doesn't fit into samchita's account; purāṇīm pāhatām aghaṭita — in purāṇas on-looking, aghaṭita. Tukā mhaṇe pāyīm nirōpilā bhāva — Tukā says: at feet, bhāva placed as nirōpa; nyāla taisā jāva siddhī Devā — take it as you go to siddhi, Deva.
What it means
A 3-verse bhakti-petition by Tukārām framing the Lord's-grace as-exceeding-samchita-account.
The claim: Spoken-guṇas-alone-don't-reach-you; the-Lord's-kavatuka (sport, gracious-work) is-a-navala (wonder) exceeding-any-samchita-account; this-is-aghaṭita (unprecedented) even-in-purāṇas. I-(Tukā)-have-placed-bhāva-as-nirōpa at-(your)-feet; take-it-as-you-go-(to)-siddhi.
For someone today
Tukārām says that fine words and clever qualities alone do not bring you closer to God; talk by itself accomplishes nothing. What God does out of grace is a wonder — it goes far beyond anything you could expect, and it doesn't fit within the ledger of your accumulated karma; even the purāṇas record nothing quite like it. So Tukārām simply lays his heartfelt devotion at God's feet like a message and trusts God to carry it through to fulfillment. The lesson: God's grace exceeds any account of karma, so offer your sincere devotion and trust it to reach fruition.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की, नुसत्या गोड शब्दांनी किंवा गुणांच्या बढाईने देव जवळ येत नाही; निव्वळ बोलण्याने काही साधत नाही. देवाची कृपा ही एक अद्भुत गोष्ट आहे — ती आपल्या संचिताच्या हिशोबात मावत नाही, इतकी की पुराणांतही तिच्यासारखे उदाहरण सापडत नाही. म्हणून तुकाराम आपली मनापासूनची भक्ती देवाच्या चरणी संदेशासारखी अर्पण करतात आणि ती सिद्धीस नेण्याची जबाबदारी देवावर सोपवतात. शिकवण हीच की देवाची कृपा कर्माच्या हिशोबापेक्षा मोठी असते, म्हणून मनापासून भक्ती अर्पण करावी आणि ती फळाला येईल असा विश्वास ठेवावा.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's spoken-guṇas-don't-reach; Lord's-kavatuka-aghaṭita claim