Abhanga 3985
The Name works even when your practice is imperfect or fumbled, as Valmiki's reversed chanting shows, so keep saying it and trust it will reach you.
The verse
तुझिया नामाचा विसर न पडावा । ध्यानीं तो राहावा पांडुरंग ॥१॥
सांगितला मंत्र श्रीरामनामाचा । सर्वकाळ वाचा हें चि बोले ॥ध्रु.॥
उफराटें नाम वाल्मीक बोलीला । तो ही वंद्य केला नारायणें ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे मज तुझा चि भरवसा । धांवुनियां कैसा येसी देवा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Tujhiyā nāmācā visara na paḍāvā — dhyānīm tō rāhāvā pāṇḍuranga — let no forgetting of your Name befall — in dhyāna let Pāṇḍuranga remain. Sāngitalā mantra śrīrāmanāmācā — sarvakāḷa vāchā hem chi bōle — the mantra of Śrī-Rāma-Nāma has been told — at all times tongue speaks this only. Upharāṭēm nāma vālmīka bōlīlā — tō hī vandya kelā nārāyaṇēm — the reversed Name Vālmīka spoke — yet Nārāyaṇa made him vandya. Tukā mhaṇe maja tujhā chi bharavasā — dhāvuniyām kaisā yesī devā — Tukā says: I have only your trust — running, how will you come, Deva.
What it means
A 3-verse Name-and-Vālmīka petition. Don't-let-me-forget-Name; the-Rāma-Nāma-mantra told; even-Vālmīka's-reversed-Name (mara-mara → rāma-rāma) made him vandya; I-have-only-your-trust — come-running, Deva. Vālmīka legend (the dacoit transformed by Nārada's reversed-Name teaching) ties caste-redemption to Name-power.
For someone today
Tukaram prays simply that he never forgets the Name, and that Panduranga's form stays fixed in his meditation, with the Rama mantra always on his tongue. He backs this up with the story of Valmiki, who was taught to repeat the Name backward, as mara-mara instead of rama-rama, and yet even that broken, reversed chanting was enough for Narayana to make him worthy of worship and later a great sage. The point is that the Name works even when your practice is imperfect or fumbled, because what matters most is that you keep saying it. Tukaram ends with total dependence, admitting he has nothing to rely on but God's trustworthiness, and asking urgently for God to come running to him.
मराठी: तुकाराम साधी प्रार्थना करतात की नामाचा त्यांना कधीच विसर पडू नये, आणि पांडुरंगाचे रूप त्यांच्या ध्यानात कायम राहावे, रामनामाचा मंत्र सतत जिभेवर असावा. यासाठी ते वाल्मीकींची गोष्ट सांगतात, ज्यांना नाम उलटे म्हणायला शिकवले गेले होते — राम-राम ऐवजी मरा-मरा — तरीही तेच तुटके, उलटे जपणे नारायणाने त्यांना पूजनीय आणि पुढे महान ऋषी बनवण्यासाठी पुरेसे ठरले. मुद्दा हा की साधना अपूर्ण किंवा चुकीची असली तरी नाम काम करते, कारण सर्वात महत्त्वाचे म्हणजे तुम्ही ते म्हणत राहणे. तुकाराम शेवटी संपूर्ण अवलंबित्व व्यक्त करतात, कबूल करतात की देवाच्या विश्वासार्हतेशिवाय त्यांच्याकडे दुसरे काही नाही, आणि देवाने धावत यावे अशी आर्त विनंती करतात.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's Name-and-Vālmīka canonical
- Companion to 3977 (Vālmīka-vandya) and Name-supremacy texts