संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3849 of 4582

Abhanga 3849

God took a form we could love and hold onto out of pure affection, so hold onto that love steadily, since it is the one thing all true practice is built on.

When you find comfort in something tangible, like an image or a name, rather than an abstract idea.
When you want to stop letting your devotion slip and instead keep it constant, moment to moment.
When you cut through many complicated rules and realize one simple truth is at the heart of it all.

The verse

आवडी धरोनी आलेती आकारा । केला हा पसारा याजसाटीं ॥१॥ तें मी तुझें नाम गाईंन आवडी । क्षण एक घडी विसंबेना ॥ध्रु.॥ वर्म धरावें हा मुख्यधर्मसार । अवघे प्रकार तयापासीं ॥२॥ वेगळ्या विचारें वेगळाले भाव । धरायासी ठाव बहु नाहीं ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे घालूं इच्छेचिये पोटीं । कवळुनी धाकुटी मूर्ती जीवें ॥४॥

Literal translation

Āvaḍī dharōnī āletī ākārā — holding āvaḍī, (you have) come to ākāra; kelā hā pasārā yājasāṭīm — made this pasāra for this purpose. Te mī tujhe nāma gāīmna āvaḍī — I'll sing your Name with āvaḍī; kṣaṇa eka ghaḍī visambenā — not letting-go even kṣaṇa-ghaḍī. Varma dharāve hā mukhya-dharma-sāra — hold the varma — chief-dharma-essence; avaghe prakāra tayāpāsīm — all prakāras near it. Tukā mhaṇe ghālūm ichchhechiye pōṭīm — Tukā says: place (you) in ichchhā's pōṭa; kavaḷunī dhākuṭī mūrtī jīve — embracing the small mūrti with jīva.

What it means

A 4-verse text on the Lord's-form-came-for-bhakta. The-Lord-took-ākāra (form) holding-our-āvaḍī; the-pasāra-(extension)-is-for-bhakti-sake; embrace-the-small-mūrti-with-jīva.

For someone today

Tukaram says that God took shape and made this whole world simply out of love for us, so that we would have someone tangible to hold onto. In return, he promises to keep singing God's name with the same love, never letting go of it even for a moment. He says the real secret at the heart of all religious practice is this one point, and every other rule or ritual flows from it. In the end he wants to hold this small, approachable image of God close, embracing it with his whole being.

मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की देवाने केवळ आपल्यावरील प्रेमापोटी रूप धारण केले आणि हे सगळे जग निर्माण केले, जेणेकरून आपल्याला धरून ठेवण्यासाठी काहीतरी मूर्त स्वरूप मिळावे. त्या बदल्यात ते वचन देतात की तेवढ्याच प्रेमाने ते देवाचे नाम गात राहतील, एक क्षणभरही ते सोडणार नाहीत. सगळ्या धार्मिक आचरणाचे खरे रहस्य याच एका मुद्द्यात आहे असे ते सांगतात, आणि बाकी सगळे प्रकार त्यातूनच येतात. शेवटी त्यांना या जवळच्या, लहान मूर्तीला आपल्या पूर्ण जिवाने आलिंगन देऊन जवळ धरायचे आहे.

Where this applies