Abhanga 3917
Tukaram says devotion is its own reward, and being in the company of fellow devotees already feels close enough to heaven that he has no interest in seeking liberation elsewhere.
The verse
नमोनमो तुज माझें हें कारण । काय जालें उणें करितां स्नान ॥१॥
संतांचा मारग चालतों झाडूनि । हो का लाभ हानि कांहींतरि ॥ध्रु.॥
न करिसी तरि हेंचि कोडें मज । भक्ती गोड काज आणीक नाहीं ॥२॥
करीं सेवा कथा नाचेन रंगणीं । प्रेमसुखधणी पुरेल तों ॥३॥
महाद्वारीं सुख वैष्णवांचे मेळीं । वैकुंठ जवळी वसे तेथें ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे नाहीं मुक्तिसवें चाड । हें चि जन्म गोड घेतां मज ॥५॥
Literal translation
Namō-namō — my-kāraṇa. No-uṇē-in-snāna. Walk-santas'-path-sweeping. If-you-don't-give-still-my-koḍa-bhakti-gōḍa. Do-sevā-kathā-dance-in-rangaṇa-till-prēma-sukha-fills. Mahā-dvāra-Vaiṣṇava-mēḷā — Vaikuṇṭha-close. Tukā: no-chāḍa-for-mukti — this-janma-gōḍa.
What it means
A 5-verse mukti-refusal text (companion to 3807). Namō-namō to you — that is my whole purpose. What is lacking in performing snāna? I walk the santas' path, sweeping it (in veneration) — whatever gain or loss. If you do not give, this very is my delight — bhakti is sweet, no other work. I'll do sevā and kathā, dance in the assembly — until the abundance of love-joy is filled. At the great-gate, in the congregation of Vaiṣṇavas — there Vaikuṇṭha is close by. I have no greed for mukti — just this very birth is sweet for me to take. Mukti-refusal cluster: 2807, 3807, 3917 — all three articulate don't want mukti, just want sant-sanga-here.
For someone today
Tukaram says bowing to God is his whole purpose in life, not a means to something else, so he doesn't worry about what he gains or loses by walking the sants' path and doing the small rituals of daily practice. Even if nothing extra is ever given to him, that's fine, because devotion itself is already sweet enough and there's nothing else he's really after. He wants to keep serving, telling the sacred stories, and dancing in the gathering until his heart feels full of love, and he says that being in the company of fellow devotees at the temple gate already feels as close to heaven as he needs. In the end, he isn't chasing liberation at all. This very life, lived this way, is already sweet enough for him.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की देवाला नमस्कार करणे हाच त्यांच्या आयुष्याचा खरा हेतू आहे, दुसऱ्या कशासाठीचे साधन नाही, म्हणून संतांच्या मार्गाने चालताना आणि रोजची छोटी उपासना करताना काय मिळाले किंवा गमावले याची त्यांना काळजी नाही. काहीच जास्तीचे मिळाले नाही तरी हरकत नाही, कारण भक्ती स्वतःच पुरेशी गोड आहे आणि त्यांना दुसरे काही नकोच आहे. सेवा करत राहावी, कथा सांगावी, आणि मन प्रेमाने भरून जाईपर्यंत सोहळ्यात नाचावे अशी त्यांची इच्छा आहे, आणि देवळाच्या महाद्वारी सहभक्तांच्या सोबतीत असणे हेच त्यांना वैकुंठाइतके जवळचे वाटते. शेवटी ते मुक्तीच्या मागे नाहीत. असे जगलेले हेच आयुष्य त्यांना पुरेसे गोड आहे.
Where this applies
- When you do something purely for the joy of doing it, without needing a reward at the end
- When you find that being with a community that shares your values already feels like enough
- When you're tempted to chase a bigger, distant goal instead of appreciating what you already have
- When you want to keep showing up to small daily practices even without any promise of a bigger payoff