Abhanga 3901
Idle talk gives no real joy, but constantly repeating God's Name costs no effort and brings a joy nothing else can match, so Tukaram calls blessed the mouth that keeps God always in mind.
The verse
काय सुख आहे वाउगें बोलतां । ध्यातां पंढरिनाथा कष्ट नाहीं ॥१॥
सर्वकाळ वाचे उच्चारितां हरि । तया सुखा सरि पाड नाहीं ॥ध्रु.॥
रामकृष्णरंगीं रसना रंगली । अमृताची उकळी नाम तुझें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे धन्य तयाचें वदन । जया नारायण ध्यानीं मनीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
No-sukha-in-vain-talk — no-kaṣṭa-in-Paṇḍharināth-dhyāna. Sarva-kāḷa-Hari-tongue — no-sari-pāḍa-to-that-sukha. Rāma-Krṣṇa-rangī-rasanā-rangalī — Name-is-amrta-ukaḷī. Tukā: dhanya-vadana-with-Nārāyaṇa-in-dhyāna-mana.
What it means
A 3-verse Name-on-tongue text. What joy is there in vain talking? — meditating on Paṇḍharināth there's no hardship. Uttering Hari all the time — no joy compares to that. My tongue is dyed in Rāma-Krṣṇa colour — your Name is a boiling-spring of nectar. Blessed is the mouth in whose meditation and mind there is Nārāyaṇa. The image amrta-ukaḷī (a boiling-spring of nectar) is one of Tukārām's most evocative Name-images.
For someone today
Tukaram asks what real joy there could possibly be in idle talk, when simply meditating on Panduranga costs no effort at all and gives so much more. He says nothing compares to the pleasure of saying Hari's name constantly, describing his own tongue as dyed in the colors of Rama and Krishna, with the Name flowing like a spring of boiling nectar. He calls blessed the mouth that keeps God present in both meditation and mind.
मराठी: तुकाराम विचारतात की व्यर्थ बडबड करण्यात खरे सुख काय आहे, जेव्हा पांडुरंगाचे ध्यान करणे मुळीच कष्टाचे नाही आणि त्याहून खूप जास्त देते. सतत हरिनाम घेण्याच्या सुखाशी कशाचीच बरोबरी होऊ शकत नाही असे ते म्हणतात, आणि आपली जीभ रामकृष्णाच्या रंगात रंगल्याचे, नाम अमृताच्या उकळत्या झऱ्यासारखे वाहत असल्याचे वर्णन करतात. ज्याच्या ध्यानात आणि मनात नारायण सतत असतो त्याचे मुख धन्य आहे असे ते म्हणतात.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's rasanā-rangalī Name-amrta-ukaḷī canonical
- Companion to 3890 (easy-Name-sādhana)