Abhanga 3832
A truly great protector cares so much for their own honor that they bear the burdens of anyone who comes to them for refuge, without judging their faults, because good name is never free.
The verse
समर्थासी लाज आपुल्या नामाची । शरण आल्याची लागे चिंता ॥१॥
न पाहे तयाचे गुण दोष अन्याय । सुख देउनि साहे दुःख त्याचें ॥ध्रु.॥
मान भलेपण नाहीं फुकासाटीं । जयावरि गांठी झीज साहे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे हें तूं सर्व जाणसी । मज अधिरासी धीर नाहीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Samartha-has-lāja-of-his-Name — chinta-about-śaraṇāgata. Doesn't-look-at-guṇa-doṣa-anyāya — gives-sukha-bears-his-duḥkha. Honour-not-phukā — where-bound-bears-jhīja. Tukā: you-know-all — I-impatient-no-dhīra.
What it means
THE canonical 3-verse samartha-bears-the-cost doctrine. The mighty one is concerned for his own Name's honour — he is anxious about anyone who has come to refuge. He doesn't look at the refugee's qualities, defects, or wrongs — he gives him joy and bears his pain. Honour and good-name are not for free — where one is bound (in relationship), one bears the wear-and-tear. All this you know — but I, the impatient one, have no patience. The fundamental claim: the Lord's yaśa (reputation) is at stake in every refugee — therefore he bears the cost (duḥkha, jhīja). This is Tukārām's most economical articulation of Lord-takes-on-the-bhakta's-suffering-because-his-own-Name-is-at-stake. Pair with 3824 (reputational-leverage), 2843 (canonical-5-figure-redemption-list — brahmāṇḍa-nāyaka-I-his-ankita).
For someone today
Tukaram explains that a truly great person cares about the honor of their own name, and that concern makes them anxious for anyone who comes to them for shelter. Such a person doesn't judge the refugee's virtues, faults, or wrongs, they simply give comfort and quietly bear the other person's pain instead. Good name and honor are never free, he says, once you are bound to someone in that way, you accept the wear and cost of the relationship. He ends by admitting that even though he knows all this about God, his own impatience still gets the better of him.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की खरा थोर माणूस आपल्या नावाच्या इज्जतीची काळजी करतो, आणि ही काळजीच त्याला आपल्याकडे आश्रयाला आलेल्या प्रत्येकाबद्दल चिंतित करते. असा माणूस आश्रित व्यक्तीचे गुण, दोष किंवा चुका बघत नाही, तो फक्त सुख देतो आणि दुसऱ्याचे दुःख शांतपणे सहन करतो. मान आणि चांगले नाव कधीच फुकट मिळत नाही, असे ते म्हणतात, एकदा नाते जोडले की त्याचा भार आणि झीज स्वीकारावी लागते. शेवटी ते कबूल करतात की देवाबद्दल हे सर्व माहीत असूनही स्वतःचा अधीरपणा त्यांना स्वस्थ बसू देत नाही.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's THE canonical samartha-bears-bhakta's-duḥkha-because-Name-is-at-stake doctrine
- jhīja (wear-and-tear) of-relationship doctrine
- Pair with 3824 (reputational-leverage), 2843 (redemption-list)