Abhanga 4148
This moment is precious, so spend your words on remembering the sacred name and loving what is truly dear to you, instead of wasting them elsewhere.
The verse
आतां आम्हां हें चि काम । वाचे स्मरूं रामराम ॥१॥
ऐसी मोलाची हे घडी । धरूं पायांची आवडी ॥ध्रु.॥
अमृताची खाणी । तये ठायीं वेचूं वाणी ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे पांडुरंगा । माझ्या जीवींच्या जिवलगा ॥३॥
Literal translation
Ātām āmhām hē chi kāma — vāche smarūm Rāmarāma — now this alone is our work — by vāchā remember Rāma-Rāma. Aisī mōlācī he ghaḍī — dharūm pāyāñcī āvaḍī — such (is) the price of this moment — let-us-hold love-for-feet. Amrtācī khāṇī — taye ṭhāyīm vechūm vāṇī — the mine of amrta — there let-us-spend (our) vāṇī. Tukā mhaṇe Pāṇḍurangā — mājhyā jīvīñcyā jīvalagā — Tukā says: Pāṇḍurangā — my jīva's jīvalaga.
What it means
A 3-verse Name-priority text. This-moment-is-precious; only-work-now-is-Rāma-Rāma-smaraṇa; feet-are-amrta's-mine; spend-vāṇī-there; Pāṇḍuranga-is-my-jīva's-dearest-of-life.
For someone today
Tukaram says this present moment is precious, and there is really only one task worth doing with it: repeating Rama's name and holding onto love for his feet. He calls those feet a mine of nectar, so precious that every word you speak should be spent there instead of wasted elsewhere. In the end he simply calls out to Panduranga as the dearest thing in his whole life.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात, हा क्षण अनमोल आहे आणि यात करण्यासारखे एकच काम आहे: वाणीने रामनामाचे स्मरण करणे आणि त्याच्या चरणांवर प्रेम धरणे. ते चरण म्हणजे अमृताची खाण आहे, म्हणून आपले शब्द इतरत्र वाया न घालवता तिथेच खर्च करावेत. शेवटी ते पांडुरंगाला आपल्या जीवाचा सर्वात जिवलग सांगतात.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's only-Name-now; jīva's-jīvalaga canonical
- Companion to 2448 (nāma-sankīrtana foundational)