संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 4022 of 4582

Abhanga 4022

True devotion is simple trust in the Name with a heart emptied of craving, offered freely in joyful service without even asking for liberation.

When you catch yourself praying mainly for personal gain rather than out of love

When you want to build a lasting daily practice rather than a one-time favor request

When you notice how much unexamined craving is still shaping your choices

The verse

आम्हां वैष्णवांचा कुळधर्म कुळींचा । विश्वास नामाचा एका भावें ॥१॥ तरी च हरिचेदास म्हणवितां श्लाघीजे । निर्वासना कीजे चित्त आधी ॥ध्रु.॥ गाऊं नाचूं प्रेमें आनंदें कीर्तनीं । भक्ति मुक्ति दोन्ही न मगों तुज ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा ऐसी यांची सेवा । द्यावी जी केशवा जन्मोजन्मीं ॥३॥

Literal translation

Vaiṣṇavas-kula-dharma-kulīmchā — viśvāsa-in-Nāma-ēka-bhāva. Then-hari-chē-dāsa-meritorious — empty-vāsanā-first. Sing-dance-prēma-ānanda-kīrtana — don't-ask-bhakti-mukti. Tukā: give-Kēśava — this-sevā-janma-janma.

What it means

A 3-verse Vaiṣṇava-kula-dharma canonical. Our Vaiṣṇavas' clan-dharma, ancestral, is trust in the Name by one-pointed devotion. Only then is calling-oneself-hari-dāsa meritorious — but make the heart empty-of-vāsanā first. We'll sing and dance in love-and-bliss in kīrtana; we won't ask you for bhakti or mukti. Give us, Kēśava — such service — birth after birth. Both bhakti and mukti are renounced as requests — only the sevā-of-vaiṣṇavas matters.

For someone today

Tukaram describes what it truly means to belong to the family of devotees, the Vaishnavas: not birth or ritual, but wholehearted trust in the Name. Before you can honestly call yourself a servant of God, you first need to clear your heart of selfish craving. Real devotion looks like singing and dancing in kirtana out of pure love and joy, not bargaining for spiritual rewards. Tukaram asks only to keep serving this way, birth after birth, without even asking for liberation itself.

मराठी: तुकाराम सांगतात की वैष्णवांच्या, म्हणजे भक्तांच्या, कुळात खरोखर असणे म्हणजे जन्माने किंवा विधीने नव्हे, तर नामावर एकनिष्ठ विश्वास ठेवणे. स्वतःला हरीचा दास म्हणवून घेण्याआधी आधी मनातील वासना रिकामी करावी लागते. खरी भक्ती म्हणजे कीर्तनात प्रेमाने आणि आनंदाने गाणे-नाचणे, त्या बदल्यात काही मागणे नव्हे. तुकाराम फक्त एवढेच मागतात की जन्मोजन्मी अशीच सेवा मिळावी, अगदी मुक्तीही न मागता.

Where this applies

When you go through religious rituals but have not examined what you actually want from them
When you find yourself treating devotion as a transaction, expecting something in return
When you want to serve or worship out of pure joy rather than to get a result
When cravings and self-interest cloud your ability to trust simply