Abhanga 3871
Sit in worry-free devotion to one Lord alone, let go of every other ritual and any sense of ownership, and use this one lifetime to finally cut the cycle of rebirth.
The verse
भक्तिभावें करी बैसोनि निश्चित । नको गोवूं चित्त प्रपंचासी ॥१॥
एका दृढ करीं पंढरीचा राव । मग तुज उपाव पुढिल सुचे ॥ध्रु.॥
नको करूं कांहीं देवतापूजन । जप तप ध्यान तें ही नको ॥२॥
मानिसील झणी आपलिक कांहीं । येरझार पाहीं न चुके कदा ॥३॥
ऐसे जन्म किती पावलासी देहीं । अझूनि का नाहीं कळली सोय ॥४॥
सोय घरीं आतां होय पां सावध । अनुभव आनंद आहे कैसा ॥५॥
सहज कैसें आहे तेथीचें तें गुज । अनुभवें निज पाहे तुकीं ॥६॥
तुका म्हणे आतां होईं तूं सावध । तोडीं भवबंध एका जन्में ॥७॥
Literal translation
Sit-bhakti-bhāva-niścinta — don't-tangle-chitta-prapancha. Firm-one-Paṇḍharī-rāva — future-upāya-comes-to-mind. No-devatā-pūjana — no-japa-tapa-dhyāna. If-you-think-ownership — yērajhāra-never-misses. Many-janmas-in-deha — still-no-sōya. Be-sāvadha — anubhava-ānanda. Sahaja-essence-secret — see-in-your-tukī. Tukā: be-sāvadha — cut-bhava-bandha-in-one-janma.
What it means
THE canonical 7-verse anti-multiplicity-of-worship + cut-bhava-bandha-in-one-janma text. Sit with bhakti-bhāva worry-free — don't tangle your mind in the world. Firmly hold one — the Lord of Paṇḍharī — then the means for the future occurs to your mind. Don't do other devatā-worship; even japa, tapa, dhyāna — not needed. If you think any ownership (āpalika), samsāra never lets you go. How many births you've taken in this body — and still you haven't grasped the right direction? In your own house, now, be alert — the bliss of experience is as-it-is. The spontaneous secret — see it in your own balance. Be alert — cut the bondage-of-becoming in one (this) birth. The structural progression: (1) one-pointed bhakti-bhāva; (2) only-Paṇḍharī-rāva; (3) negate other-devatā-pūjana/japa/tapa/dhyāna; (4) the one ownership-thought re-imprisons; (5-7) the urgency — many-janmas-already-wasted, cut-it-now-in-this-one. The closing tōḍīm bhavabandha ēkā janmēm (cut-the-bondage-in-one-birth) is the bhakti's-urgency-imperative. Pair with 3743 (Name-is-everything), 3795 (jaḷō-burn-everything-else), 3867 (Viṭṭhalāvāñchōnī).
For someone today
Tukaram urges you to sit down with a settled, worry-free heart devoted to God, without letting your mind get tangled up in worldly concerns. Choose one thing to hold onto firmly — for him, the Lord of Pandharpur — and once that commitment is real, all the other rituals, other worship, even elaborate meditation techniques become unnecessary. He warns that clinging to any sense of 'mine' or ownership keeps pulling you back into the same cycle of coming and going, life after life. You have already taken many births without finding the right direction, so the urgent call here is to wake up now, in this very life, and finally cut that cycle.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की, मन कोणत्याही संसारिक चिंतेत न गुंतवता, निश्चिंत आणि भक्तिभावाने बसावे. एकच गोष्ट घट्ट धरून ठेवा — त्यांच्यासाठी ती पंढरीचा राव आहे — आणि हे एक समर्पण खरे झाले की इतर देवतापूजा, जप, तप, ध्यान यांची गरज उरत नाही. ते इशारा देतात की कोणतीही 'माझेपणाची' भावना धरली, तर संसाराची येरझार कधीच चुकत नाही. अनेक जन्म देहात घालवूनही अजून योग्य दिशा सापडलेली नाही, म्हणून आताच, याच जन्मात जागे होऊन ही येरझार कायमची तोडण्याचा हा तातडीचा संदेश आहे.
Where this applies
- When your mind keeps drifting to family and worldly worries during prayer or meditation
- When you're juggling many different spiritual practices and rituals without any single anchor
- When you catch yourself claiming ownership over people or things and feel that grip pulling you back
- When you sense you've been postponing real spiritual commitment birth after birth, year after year