Abhanga 4356
Repeating the Name in ordinary moments like eating and drinking water replaces every elaborate ritual and remains the one practice worth carrying to the very end.
The verse
ब्राम्हणा न कळे आपुलें तें वर्म । गंवसे परब्रम्ह नामें एका ॥१॥
लहानथोरासि करितों प्रार्थना । दृढ नारायणा मनीं धरा ॥ध्रु.॥
सर्वांप्रति माझी हे चि असे विनंती । आठवा श्रीपती मनामाजी ॥२॥
केशव नारायण करितां आचमन । ते चि संध्या स्नान कर्म क्रिया ॥३॥
नामें करा नित्य भजन भोजन । ब्रम्हकर्म ध्यान याचे पायीं ॥४॥
तुका म्हणे हें चि निर्वाणींचें शस्त्र । म्हणोनि सर्वत्र स्मरा वेगीं ॥५॥
Literal translation
Brāhmaṇa-doesn't-know-own-warma — para-brahma-by-one-Name. Prārthanā-to-small-great — dhrḍha-Nārāyaṇa-in-mana. Vinamtī — āṭhavā-Śrīpati. Keśava-Nārāyaṇa-while-āchamana = sandhyā-snāna-karma-kriyā. By-Name-nitya-bhajana-bhōjana — brahma-karma-dhyāna-at-feet. Tukā: nirvāṇa-śastra — smara-everywhere-swiftly.
What it means
THE canonical 5-verse anti-Brahmin-elitism + Name-replaces-rituals text. The brāhmaṇa doesn't know his own essential-secret — para-brahma is found by one Name alone. To small-and-great I make prayer — hold Nārāyaṇa firmly in mind. To all is this my request — remember Śrīpati in your heart. Saying Keśava-Nārāyaṇa while sipping-water — that itself is sandhyā, bathing, ritual-action. Do daily-bhajana and meal-as-bhajana by the Name — brahma-karma and meditation at his feet. Tukā says: this is the final weapon — so remember it everywhere, swiftly. The doctrinal substitution: Keśava-Nārāyaṇa-while-āchamana = sandhyā + snāna + karma + kriyā — Name-recitation substitutes-for the entire-Brahmin-ritual-complex. The opening brāhmaṇa-doesn't-know-own-warma is striking — Tukārām claims the Brahmin-himself is unaware of the essential-secret his caste-tradition guards. Pair with 4275 (caste-democratization saints-list), 4351 (Hari-Nāma-in-mouth = adhikārī-of-all-sukha).
For someone today
Tukaram says plainly that even a Brahmin does not truly know the secret his own tradition guards, because the highest reality is reached by one thing alone, the Name. He prays to everyone, small and great, asking each person to simply hold Narayana firmly in mind. He goes so far as to say that speaking the Name of Keshava-Narayana while sipping water is itself your evening prayer, your bath, and every ritual act you would otherwise perform. Let your daily meal and your daily remembrance both become forms of the Name, he says, because this simple practice is the one weapon you can carry to the very end, so keep it close and call on it everywhere, without delay.
मराठी: तुकाराम स्पष्ट सांगतात की ब्राह्मणालाही आपल्याच परंपरेचं खरं रहस्य माहीत नाही, कारण सर्वोच्च सत्य केवळ एका गोष्टीने, नामाने मिळतं. ते लहान-मोठ्या सर्वांना विनवणी करतात, प्रत्येकाने फक्त नारायणाला मनात दृढ धरावं. ते इतकं म्हणतात की पाणी प्राशन करताना केशव-नारायण असं नाम घेणं हीच तुमची संध्या, स्नान आणि सगळी कर्मक्रिया आहे. रोजचं जेवण आणि रोजचं स्मरण दोन्ही नामाचंच रूप बनू द्या, असं ते सांगतात, कारण हा साधा उपाय शेवटच्या क्षणीही सोबत घेऊन जाता येणारं एकमेव शस्त्र आहे, म्हणून ते जवळ बाळगा आणि विलंब न करता सर्वत्र त्याचं स्मरण करा.
Where this applies
- Tukārām's brāhmaṇa-doesn't-know-own-warma + Name-replaces-rituals + nirvāṇa-śastra canonical