Abhanga 4375
Real spiritual insight is like genuine currency, hard won through relentless effort, and only a discerning heart can tell it apart from mere clever words.
The verse
नव्हे हें कवित्व टांकसाळी नाणें । घेती भले जन भले लोक ॥१॥
लागलासे झरा पूर्ण नवनीतें । सेविलियां हित फार होय ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे देवा केला बलात्कार । अंगा आलें फार महंतपण ॥३॥
Literal translation
This-is-not-(mere)-kavitva-it-IS-mint-stamped-coin — (only)-good-quality-people-take-it. Tapped-zarā-full-navanīta — sevā-hita-much. Tukā: balatkāra-on-Deva — mahanta-paṇa-to-anga.
What it means
A 3-verse kavitva-authenticity-claim text. This is not (mere) poetry — it IS the mint-stamped (genuine) coin; (only) the good-quality people, the good folk, take it. A spring of full butter has been tapped — by serving (consuming) it, much benefit comes. Tukā says: I have forcefully-importuned Deva — much master-status has come to my body. The poetics-authenticity-claim: the abhangs are not-mere-versification — they are mint-stamped-currency (the standard-coin of bhakti); only-the-good-quality-recipients receive-it as such. The angā-ālēm-mahantapaṇa (master-status came to the body) is the consequence of forcefully-importuning Deva — Tukārām claims bhakti-extorted-authenticity. Pair with 4252 (rare self-deprecating-pākhaṇḍa-of-letters — companion-but-inverted-tone).
For someone today
Tukaram says these are not just clever verses, they are genuine, mint-stamped currency, and only people of real quality can recognize and accept them as such. He compares his words to a spring that has tapped into pure butter, the very essence of something rich, and says that anyone who takes it in will gain real benefit. He is honest that this did not come easily or gently; he says he practically forced it out of God through sheer persistence, and that struggle is what earned him his standing. The lesson is that authentic spiritual insight is hard won, not manufactured, and it takes a discerning heart to tell the real thing from mere words.
मराठी: तुकाराम म्हणतात की हे केवळ चतुर शब्दरचना नाही, तर हे टांकसाळीतले खरेखुरे नाणे आहे, आणि फक्त चांगल्या प्रतीचे लोकच ते खरे नाणे म्हणून ओळखू शकतात व स्वीकारू शकतात. ते आपल्या शब्दांची तुलना लोण्याचा झरा फुटण्याशी करतात — जो कोणी हे सेवन करेल त्याला खरा फायदा होईल. ते प्रामाणिकपणे सांगतात की हे सहज मिळालेले नाही; त्यांनी जवळजवळ हट्टाने देवाकडून हे बळेच मिळवले आहे, आणि त्याच संघर्षातून त्यांना हा मोठेपणा मिळाला आहे. यातून शिकायचे हेच की खरी आध्यात्मिक जाण सहज तयार होत नाही, ती कष्टाने कमावलेली असते, आणि खरे काय व केवळ शब्द काय हे ओळखायला डोळस मन लागते.
Where this applies
- When you doubt whether your hard-earned spiritual practice is genuine or just performance
- When you meet someone who cannot yet tell sincere devotion from empty display
- When your progress has come only after relentless, almost stubborn persistence rather than ease
- When you wonder whether people around you are ready to receive something valuable you have to offer