संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 4276 of 4582

Abhanga 4276

Nothing compares to the power of God's Name, so it should never be traded away cheaply for worldly gain; its worth is self-evident and needs no further proof.

When you're tempted to treat your faith or spiritual practice as a bargaining chip for a small material gain.

When you doubt the real power of devotion and need reminding that it stands above everything else.

When you feel pressure to keep proving your worth with credentials instead of simply acting with integrity.

The verse

नामासारिखी करणी । हे तों न दिसे त्रिभुवनीं ॥१॥ सिलंगणीचें सोनें । ठेवूं नये तें गाहाण ॥ध्रु.॥ आदित्याचीं झाडें । काय त्याचा उजड पडे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे देवा । ब्रिदें सोडोनियां ठेवा ॥३॥

Literal translation

No-comparison-with-Name — not-in-tribhuvana. Festival-gold — shouldn't-be-mortgaged. Trees-of-sun — no-uj'aḍa-falls. Tukā: deva — bridā-leave-aside-keep.

What it means

A 3-verse Name-supremacy text with cryptic-images. Such action as the Name's is not seen in the three-worlds. Don't mortgage festival-gold for debt. What clearing falls from trees of the sun? Tukā says: Deva — leave your vow-titles aside. The 3 images: (1) Name-without-comparison-in-tribhuvana; (2) silamgaṇī-gold (festive-gold of Dasarā customs) shouldn't be mortgaged — likewise the Name shouldn't be treated as collateral for material-debts; (3) trees of the sun don't cast shade — there's no place to hide from Name's light. The closing bridā-leave-aside-keep hints at enough — your vow-titles need no further demonstration.

For someone today

Tukaram says nothing in the three worlds has power to match the Name of God, it is completely without equal. Just as you would never pawn the sacred gold from a festival to pay off a petty debt, you should not treat the Name as ordinary currency to be traded for small worldly gains. Like trees standing in the sun that need no separate light to prove they exist, the Name's power is self-evident and needs no decoration. Tukaram asks the Lord to simply act, without needing to keep announcing his greatness through titles.

मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की त्रिभुवनात नामाच्या तोडीचे काहीही नाही, त्याला बरोबरी नाही. जसे सणाचे पवित्र सोने क्षुल्लक कर्जासाठी गहाण ठेवू नये, तसेच नामालाही छोट्या ऐहिक लाभासाठी विकून टाकू नये. सूर्यप्रकाशात उभ्या असलेल्या झाडांना स्वतःचे अस्तित्व दाखवायला वेगळा उजेड लागत नाही, तसेच नामाचे सामर्थ्य स्वयंसिद्ध आहे, त्याला सजावटीची गरज नाही. तुकाराम देवाला विनंती करतात की त्याने आपली बिरुदे मिरवत बसण्याऐवजी नुसते साधे कार्यच करावे.

Where this applies

Tukārām's Name-supremacy 3-image canonical

Nāma (the Name) Autobiographical