संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3880 of 4582

Abhanga 3880

God has always taken form to protect sincere devotees like Ambarish and crush wickedness, so Tukaram asks him to keep that same promise of mercy true now.

When you're facing injustice and hoping that help or protection will really come.

When you draw courage from remembering how someone has protected others before.

When you hold someone to a promise or reputation they've built through past actions.

The verse

धर्म रक्षावया अवतार घेशी । आपुल्या पाळिसी भक्तजना ॥१॥ अंबॠषीसाटीं जन्म सोसियेलें । दुष्ट निर्दाळिले किती एक ॥ध्रु.॥ धन्य तुज कृपासिंधु म्हणतील । आपुला तूं बोल साच करीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे तुज वणिऩती पुराणें । होय नारायणें दयासिंधु ॥३॥

Literal translation

For-dharma-rakṣaṇa-avatāra — protect-bhakta-jana. For-Ambarṣī-bore-janma — duṣṭa-crushed. Dhanya-krpā-sindhu — keep-bōla-true. Tukā: purāṇas-describe — be-dayā-sindhu.

What it means

A 3-verse avatāra-pavāḍa-warrant. To protect dharma, you take avatāra; you rear your bhakta-jana. For Ambarṣī's sake, you took births; many wicked ones you crushed. They call you the ocean-of-compassion — keep your word true. The purāṇas describe you — be the ocean-of-mercy, Nārāyaṇa. Ambarṣī is the bhakta whose vrata-pālana was so meticulous that Lord Viṣṇu took the avatāras precisely to honour him (and his chakra protected him from Durvāsa's wrath). The argument: if you took avatāras for Ambarṣī, take one for me.

For someone today

Tukaram reminds God, and himself, of a consistent pattern: whenever dharma needed protecting, God took form to defend his devotees and crush whatever was wicked. He points specifically to Ambarish, a devotee so sincere that God took birth after birth just to stand by him. Since the scriptures themselves praise God as an ocean of compassion, Tukaram essentially holds him to that reputation, asking him to keep that same promise true now, for anyone who calls on him with the same sincerity.

मराठी: तुकाराम देवाला, आणि स्वतःलाही, एका सातत्यपूर्ण पद्धतीची आठवण करून देतात: जेव्हा जेव्हा धर्माचे रक्षण करायचे होते, तेव्हा तेव्हा देवाने रूप घेऊन आपल्या भक्तांचे रक्षण केले आणि दुष्टांचा नाश केला. ते खासकरून अंबरीषाचा उल्लेख करतात, असा भक्त ज्याच्यासाठी देवाने अनेक जन्म घेतले, फक्त त्याच्या पाठीशी उभे राहण्यासाठी. पुराणेच देवाला करुणासिंधू म्हणून गौरवतात, म्हणून तुकाराम जणू देवाला त्याच्याच नावाला जागण्याची विनंती करतात, तेच वचन आताही खरे करण्याची, जो कोणी तितक्याच प्रामाणिकपणे हाक मारेल त्याच्यासाठी.

Where this applies

When you're facing something wrong or unjust and wonder whether help will actually arrive
When you look to how someone has shown up for others in the past as reason to trust they'll show up for you
When you're holding someone, or God, accountable to their own stated values and promises
When you need courage from remembering that sincere devotion has been rewarded before