Abhanga 3975
True refuge in the divine changes your relationship with fear itself, so that even death and time end up under your feet instead of over you.
The verse
जन्ममरणांची कायसी चिंता । तुझ्या शरणागतां पंढरीराया ॥१॥
वदनीं तुझें नाम अमृतसंजीवनी । असतां चक्रपाणी भय कवणा ॥ध्रु.॥
हृदयीं तुझें रूप बिंबलें साकार । तेथें कोण पार संसाराचा ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे तुझ्या चरणांची पाखर । असतां कळिकाळ पायां तळीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
Janmamaraṇāñcī kāyasī chintā — tujhyā śaraṇāgatām paṇḍharīrāyā — what worry of birth-death — for your śaraṇāgatas, Paṇḍharīrāyā. Vadanīm tujhēm nāma amrtasañjīvanī — asatām chakrapāṇī bhaya kavaṇā — on tongue your Name (is) amrta-sañjīvanī — with Chakrapāṇi present, who fears. Hrdayīm tujhēm rūpa bimbalēm sākāra — tethēm kōṇa pāra samsārāñcā — in heart your rūpa is mirrored sākāra — there, what pāra of samsāra. Tukā mhaṇe tujhyā charaṇāñcī pākhara — asatām kaḷikāḷa pāyām taḷīm — Tukā says: with your feet's canopy — Kalikāḷa is under feet.
What it means
A 3-verse refuge-confidence canonical. No-chintā-of-birth-death for-śaraṇāgatas; Name = amrta-sañjīvanī; Chakrapāṇi-present-no-fear; rūpa-mirrored-in-heart-no-pāra-of-samsāra; feet's-canopy — Kalikāḷa-under-feet. Amrta-sañjīvanī is the immortality-reviving herb from epic narrative.
For someone today
Tukaram says that anyone who has truly taken refuge in God has nothing left to fear from birth or death. Just speaking the divine Name is like drinking the legendary nectar that revives the dead, so with Chakrapani present, what is there to be afraid of. When God's form is mirrored clearly in your own heart, the vastness of worldly existence loses its power to overwhelm you. Tukaram ends by saying that the shelter of those feet is so complete that even Kalikala, the force of death and time, ends up under your feet instead of over you. The lesson is that real refuge changes your relationship with fear itself.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की ज्याने खरोखर देवाला शरण घेतले आहे, त्याला जन्म-मृत्यूची चिंता उरत नाही. फक्त देवाचे नाव उच्चारणे म्हणजे मृतांना जिवंत करणारी अमृतसंजीवनी घेण्यासारखे आहे, आणि चक्रपाणी सोबत असताना भीती कशाची? जेव्हा देवाचे रूप आपल्याच हृदयात स्पष्टपणे उमटते, तेव्हा संसाराचा अफाटपणा आपल्याला दबवू शकत नाही. तुकाराम शेवटी म्हणतात की त्या चरणांचा आसरा इतका पूर्ण आहे की काळ आणि मृत्यूची शक्ती असलेला कळिकाळसुद्धा आपल्या पायाखाली येतो, आपल्यावर नाही. खरी शरणागती भीतीशी असलेले आपले नातेच बदलून टाकते, हीच इथली शिकवण आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's refuge-confidence canonical
- Companion to Hari-mhaṇatām (2855), Hari-bhakta-jīvalaga (2757)