Abhanga 3988
Real devotion takes responsibility for carrying others along too, turning your own life's purpose into a boat that anyone can board.
The verse
धरिल्या देहाचें सार्थक करीन । आनंदें भरीन तिन्ही लोक ॥१॥
लावीन निशान जावया वैकुंठा । माजवीन पेठा कीर्तनाच्या ॥ध्रु.॥
नामाचिया नौका करीन सहस्रवरि । नावाडा श्रीहरि पांडुरंग ॥२॥
भाविक हो येथें धरा रे आवांका । म्हणे दास तुका शुद्धयाति ॥३॥
Literal translation
Make-mōla-of-deha — fill-three-lokas-ānanda. Plant-niśāna-for-Vaikuṇṭha — kīrtana-pēṭhā. Thousand-Nāma-naukās — Śrī-Hari-captain. Bhāvikas-take-hold — dāsa-Tukā-śuddha-yāti.
What it means
THE canonical 3-verse kīrtana-as-collective-rescue text. I will make this body's right-purpose; I will fill the three worlds with joy. I will plant the banner for the journey to Vaikuṇṭha; I will set up the marketplaces of kīrtana. I will make a thousand boats of the Name — the captain is Śrī Hari Pāṇḍuranga. O bhāvikas, take hold here — says servant Tukā, the pure-pilgrim. The three images (banner-for-Vaikuṇṭha + market-of-kīrtana + thousand-Name-boats) are Tukārām's most-heroic articulation of kīrtana-as-collective-vehicle. The closing Tukā śuddha-yāti is rare-self-naming — the pure-pilgrim. Pair with 2745 (Paṇḍharī-hāṭa-bhakti-market), 3804 (Āṣāḍhī-Kārtikī-twice-yearly-vārī).
For someone today
Tukaram makes a bold personal vow here: he will make this body he was given actually worth something, and fill all three worlds with joy in the process. He pictures himself planting a banner marking the road to Vaikuntha and setting up bustling marketplaces of kirtana, gathering places where people can come and take part. He will build a thousand boats made of the Name itself, with Shri Hari Pandurang as the captain steering them, so that anyone who wants to cross over has a way to climb aboard. He calls out directly to devoted people to grab hold here and now, signing off as Tuka, servant, the pure pilgrim. It is a lesson in taking responsibility for turning your own devotion into something that carries other people too, not keeping it to yourself.
मराठी: तुकाराम इथे एक धाडसी प्रतिज्ञा करतात — मिळालेल्या या देहाचे खरे सार्थक करेन, आणि त्याच वेळी तिन्ही लोकांना आनंदाने भरून टाकेन. वैकुंठाच्या वाटेवर निशाण रोवण्याचे आणि कीर्तनाच्या गजबजलेल्या पेठा उभारण्याचे स्वप्न ते पाहतात, जिथे लोक एकत्र येऊन सहभागी होऊ शकतील. ते नामाच्याच हजारो नौका बांधतील, श्रीहरी पांडुरंग स्वतः त्यांचा नावाडी असेल, जेणेकरून पार व्हायची इच्छा असणाऱ्या प्रत्येकाला चढण्याचा मार्ग मिळेल. ते भाविकांना थेट आवाहन करतात की आताच इथे धरा, आणि शेवटी स्वतःला दास तुका, शुद्ध यात्री असे संबोधतात. आपली भक्ती फक्त स्वतःपुरती न ठेवता इतरांनाही सोबत घेऊन जाणारी बनवण्याची जबाबदारी घेण्याची ही शिकवण आहे.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's Nāma-naukā for Vaikuṇṭha + kīrtana-pēṭhā + bhāvikas-board canonical
- Tukā-dāsa-śuddha-yāti rare-self-naming
- Pair with 2745 (Paṇḍharī-hāṭa), 3804 (Āṣāḍhī-Kārtikī-vārī)