Abhanga 4411
Chanting God's name is offered freely to anyone willing to take it, though how much reaches you depends on what you have genuinely put in, not on demanding more.
The verse
रामनाम हा चि मांडिला दुकान । आहे वानोवाण घ्यारे कोणी ॥१॥
नका कोणी करूं घेता रे आळस । वांटितों तुम्हांस फुकाचें हें ॥ध्रु.॥
संचितासारिखे पडे त्याच्या हाता । फारसें मागतां तरी न ये ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे आम्हीं सांठविलें सार । उरलिया थार विचारितां ॥३॥
Literal translation
Set-up this dukāna of Rāma-Nāma. Vānōvāṇa — anyone take. Don't-be-lazy in taking; dividing to you fukāñce (free). Falls according to samchita; (want)-much, doesn't come. Tukā: we've sāmṭhavile sāra; rest thāra on consideration.
What it means
A canonical Rāma-Nāma-shop image. The Name is abundant and free; only samchita limits one's grasp. Bhakti-democratization-by-abundance.
For someone today
Tukaram pictures chanting God's name as a shop he has set up, with goods that are free and plentiful for anyone willing to take them. His only warning is against laziness, do not hesitate, just come and take your share. But he is honest about one thing: how much actually reaches your hands depends on what you have already stored up within yourself, and demanding more does not make it come faster. He closes by saying he has kept the essence ready and waiting, and the rest is something each person has to work out for themselves.
मराठी: तुकाराम रामनामाचे स्मरण एका दुकानासारखे मांडतात, जिथे माल मुबलक आणि फुकट आहे, कोणीही येऊन घेऊ शकतो. त्यांचा एकच इशारा आहे - आळस करू नका, संकोच न करता येऊन आपला वाटा घ्या. पण ते एक प्रामाणिक गोष्टही सांगतात - प्रत्यक्षात हातात किती पडते हे तुमच्या स्वतःच्या संचितावर अवलंबून असते, आणि जास्त मागितल्याने ते लवकर मिळत नाही. शेवटी ते म्हणतात की त्यांनी सार साठवून ठेवले आहे, बाकी विचार करून प्रत्येकाने स्वतः ठरवायचे आहे.
Where this applies
- Canonical Rāma-Nāma-shop text
- Companion to 2745 (Paṇḍharī-bhakti-market)