Abhanga 4167
Life is a difficult ocean to cross, but holding onto one steady practice, like repeating a sacred name, can carry you safely through.
The verse
ऐसा दुस्तर भवसागर । नेणों कैसा उतरूं पार ॥१॥
कामक्रोधादि सावजें थोर । दिसताती भयंकर ॥ध्रु.॥
मायाममतेचे भोवरे । घेती भयानक फेरे ॥२॥
वासनेच्या लहरा येती । उद्योगहेलकावे बसती ॥३॥
तरावया एक युक्ति असे । तुका नामनावेमधीं बैसे ॥४॥
Literal translation
Aisā dustara bhavasāgara — neṇōm kaisā utarūm pāra — such (is) the dustara bhava-sāgara — I know not how to cross to the far-shore. Kāma-krōdhādi sāvaje thōra — disatātī bhayankara — kāma-krōdha etc. are great predators — they look fearful. Māyā-mamatēche bhōvare — ghētī bhayānaka phere — whirlpools of māyā-mamatā — take frightful rounds. Vāsanechyā laharā yetī — udyōga-helakāve basatī — waves of vāsanā come — the push-pull of effort seats-itself. Tarāvayā eka yukti ase — Tukā nāma-nāvemadhīm baise — one means exists for crossing — Tukā sits in the nāma-boat.
What it means
A 5-verse bhava-sāgara picture. Ocean-of-being-impassable; kāma-krodha-predators; māyā-mamatā-whirlpools; vāsanā-waves; only-one-means — sit-in-the-Name-boat. Tukā's prescription concise: Name-nave (Name = boat) — the most canonical Vārkarī image.
For someone today
Tukaram describes life as a vast, hard-to-cross ocean, and he admits he does not know how to reach the other shore on his own. Along the way, he says, powerful forces like desire and anger stalk like fearsome predators, while attachment and possessiveness spin into frightening whirlpools that can pull you under. Restless cravings keep arriving in waves, and even your own striving can rock you back and forth. But he offers one clear way through it all: sit in the boat of the sacred Name, trusting that repeating it will carry you safely across.
मराठी: तुकाराम आयुष्याला एक अफाट, पार करायला कठीण भवसागर म्हणतात, आणि एकट्याने त्याचा पैलतीर कसा गाठावा हे आपल्याला माहीत नाही असे ते कबूल करतात. या प्रवासात काम-क्रोधासारखी शक्तिशाली भावने भयंकर पशूंसारखी टपून बसलेली असतात, तर माया-ममता भोवऱ्यांसारखी भीतीदायक फेऱ्या घालतात. वासनेच्या लाटा सतत येत राहतात, आणि स्वतःचा प्रयत्नही डळमळीत करून टाकतो. पण यातून पार होण्याचा एकच सोपा उपाय ते सांगतात, नामाच्या नावेत बसावे, आणि नामस्मरण आपल्याला सुखरूप पैलतीरावर नेईल असा विश्वास ठेवावा.
Where this applies
- When you feel overwhelmed by life's difficulties and don't know how to get through them
- When anger or desire feels like something dangerous chasing you
- When attachment to people or things pulls you into anxious, repetitive cycles
- When you need one simple, steady practice to hold onto amid constant inner turmoil