Abhanga 3977
Neither low birth nor a sinful past disqualifies anyone from greatness or grace; repeating the name is freely open to all, not earned or hoarded by the deserving.
The verse
याति गुणें रूप काय ते वानर । तयांच्या विचारें वर्ते राम ॥१॥
ब्रम्हहत्यारासि पातकी अनेक । तो वंद्य वाल्मीक तिहीं लोकीं ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे नव्हे चोरीचा व्यापार । म्हणा रघुवीर वेळोवेळां ॥३॥
Literal translation
Yāti guṇēm rūpa kāya te vānara — tayāñcyā vichārēm varte rāma — by yāti-guṇa-rūpa, what are they but monkeys — yet by their vichāra Rāma acts. Brahmahatyārāsi pātakī aneka — tō vandya vālmīka tihīm lōkīm — brahman-killer with many sins — that Vālmīka is vandya in three lokas. Tukā mhaṇe navhe chōrīcā vyāpāra — mhaṇā raghuvīra veḷōveḷām — Tukā says: not a thief's business — say Raghuvīra time and again.
What it means
A 3-verse democratization-by-bhakti. Vānaras — low-by-yāti-guṇa-rūpa, yet Rāma-acts-by-their-counsel; Vālmīka — brahman-killer-with-many-sins, yet worshipped-in-three-lokas; this-is-no-theft's-business — say-Raghuvīra-time-and-again. Resonates with caste-and-redemption corpus (2787, 2810, 2843, 2973).
For someone today
Tukārām points out that the monkeys were lowly by birth and appearance, yet Rāma carried out his work through their counsel. Vālmīki carried the sin of killing a brāhmaṇa along with many other sins, yet through the Name he became worshipped in all three worlds. So this is no closely-guarded business, kept only for the deserving few — repeating Raghuvīra's Name again and again is open to everyone, no matter their birth or their past.
मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की वानर हे रूप आणि जातीने खालच्या दर्जाचे असूनही रामाने त्यांच्याच सल्ल्याने आपले कार्य पार पाडले. वाल्मीकींनी ब्रह्महत्येसह अनेक पापे केली होती, तरीही नामामुळे ते तिन्ही लोकांत पूज्य ठरले. म्हणून हे काही ठराविक लोकांसाठी राखीव व्यवहार नाही — रघुवीराचे नाम वारंवार घेणे हे जात किंवा भूतकाळाचा विचार न करता सर्वांसाठी खुले आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's democratization-by-bhakti canonical
- Companion to Vālmīka-Ajāmīla redemption-lists (2787, 2843, 2973)