संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 3967 of 4582

Abhanga 3967

Tukaram declares devotees of Hari as warriors armed with God's name, protected by a divine guardian and unafraid of decay or death.

When you need courage and a sense of belonging to face fear or hard times.
When you treat a daily practice like prayer or chanting as active defense rather than passive habit.
When you feel small or unprotected and need an image of being actively watched over.

The verse

आम्ही हरिचे हरिचे । सुर कळिकाळा यमाचे ॥१॥ नामघोष बाण साचे । भाले तुळसी मंजुरेचे ॥ध्रु.॥ आम्ही हरिचे हरिचे दास । कलिकाळावरि घालूं कास ॥२॥ आम्ही हरिचे हरिचे दूत । पुढें पळती यमदूत ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे आम्हांवरी । सुदर्शन घरटी करी ॥४॥

Literal translation

Āmhī Harice Harice — sura kaḷikāḷā yamāce — we are Hari's, Hari's — gods (against) Kalikāḷa, Yama. Nāmaghōṣa bāṇa sāce — bhāle tuḷasī mañjurēce — nāmaghōṣa true arrows — spears of tulasi-buds. Āmhī Harice Harice dāsa — kalikāḷāvari ghālūm kāsa — we are Hari's, Hari's dāsas — gird up against Kalikāḷa. Āmhī Harice Harice dūta — puḍhem paḷatī yamadūta — we are Hari's, Hari's dūtas — Yama-dūtas flee ahead. Tukā mhaṇe āmhāmvarī — Sudarśana gharaṭī karī — Tukā says: above us — Sudarśana makes rounds.

What it means

A 4-verse militant Hari-warriors text. We-are-Hari's-Hari's — warriors-against-Kali-Yama; Name-roar-our-arrows, tulasī-buds-our-spears; we-gird-up-against-Kalikāḷa; we-are-Hari's-messengers-and-Yama-dūtas-flee; Sudarśana-discus patrols-above-us. Devotional rhetoric in martial-imagery.

For someone today

Tukaram declares with proud repetition that he and his fellow devotees belong entirely to Hari, standing as warriors against the forces of decay and death represented by Kali and Yama. He turns devotional practice into battle imagery, calling the chanting of God's name their true arrows and tulsi flower buds their spears, and says they gird themselves for battle against the darkest forces of the age. He adds that as Hari's own messengers, even the messengers of death flee before them, and ends with the image of God's protective discus circling above them like a guard on constant patrol.

मराठी: तुकाराम अभिमानाने वारंवार सांगतात की ते आणि त्यांचे सहभक्त पूर्णपणे हरिचे आहेत, काळ आणि यमाने दर्शवलेल्या क्षय आणि मृत्यूच्या शक्तींविरुद्ध योद्धे म्हणून उभे आहेत. भक्तिसाधनेला ते युद्धाच्या प्रतिमेत मांडतात, देवाच्या नामाचा जयघोष हेच आपले खरे बाण आणि तुळशीच्या मंजिऱ्या आपले भाले म्हणतात, आणि या युगातील सर्वात अंधाऱ्या शक्तींविरुद्ध लढण्यासाठी कंबर कसतो असे सांगतात. हरिचे स्वतःचे दूत असल्याने यमदूतही आपल्यापुढून पळून जातात असे ते सांगतात, आणि शेवटी देवाचे सुदर्शनचक्र आपल्यावर सतत पहारा देत फिरत असल्याची प्रतिमा उभी करतात.

Where this applies