Abhanga 4479
Tukaram declares that the essence of the loftiest Vedic formula for ultimate reality is simply Panduranga, the ocean of compassion, showing that deep theology and personal devotion are one and the same truth.
The verse
ॐ तत्सदिति सूत्राचें सार । कृपेचा सागर पांडुरंग ॥१॥
हरिःॐ सहित उदत अनुदत । प्रचुरीश्वरासहित पांडुरंग ॥२॥
गोब्राम्हणहिता होऊनि निराळे । वेदाचें तें मूळ तुका म्हणे ॥३॥
Literal translation
ŌM-tat-sad-iti-sūtra-sāra = krpā-sāgara-Pāṇḍuranga. Hari-ŌM-with-udita-anudita = Prachurēśvara-with-Pāṇḍuranga. Go-brāhmaṇa-hita-distinct = Vēda-mūla-Tukā.
What it means
A compact 3-verse Veda-Pāṇḍuranga-identification text. The essence of the 'ŌM-tat-sad-iti' formula — is the ocean of compassion, Pāṇḍuranga. Hari-ŌM, with the spoken and the unspoken — Prachurēśvara is with Pāṇḍuranga. Being distinct for the welfare of cows and Brāhmaṇas — Pāṇḍuranga is the root of the Vēda, Tukā says. The technical-Vedic-vocabulary: ŌM tat sad is the Gītā 17.23 declaration of the three-fold designation of Brahman. Udita-anudita refers to spoken-and-unspoken-sounds in Sanskrit-grammar / Vedic-recitation. Prachurēśvara = the abundant-lord (a divine-epithet). Tukārām compresses the Vedic-tradition's-essence into Pāṇḍuranga. Pair with 2934 (Vedānta-carries-water).
For someone today
Tukaram takes the most sacred Vedic formula, Om tat sat, the phrase used to name the ultimate reality itself, and says its true essence is simply Panduranga, an ocean of compassion. All the grand Sanskrit terminology, all the spoken and unspoken sacred sounds, all the lofty titles for the divine, point back to this one accessible, loving form. Even the elaborate rituals and scholarly traditions built around cows and Brahmins ultimately trace their root to him. The lesson is that the deepest, most abstract theology and the warmest, most personal devotion are not different things, they are the same truth seen from two sides.
मराठी: तुकाराम सर्वात पवित्र वैदिक सूत्र, ॐ तत्सत्, जे परम सत्याला नाव देण्यासाठी वापरले जाते, त्याचे खरे सार म्हणजे कृपेचा सागर असलेला पांडुरंगच आहे असे सांगतात. सर्व मोठमोठे संस्कृत शब्द, सर्व उच्चारलेले आणि अनुच्चारलेले पवित्र नाद, देवाची सर्व उच्च पदवीयुक्त नावे, शेवटी याच एका सुलभ, प्रेमळ रूपाकडे निर्देश करतात. गाई आणि ब्राह्मणांसाठी असलेल्या विस्तृत विधी आणि परंपराही शेवटी त्याच्यातच मूळ धरतात. यातून हेच शिकायला मिळते की सर्वात खोल, अमूर्त तत्त्वज्ञान आणि सर्वात उबदार, वैयक्तिक भक्ती या वेगळ्या गोष्टी नाहीत, त्या एकाच सत्याच्या दोन बाजू आहेत.
Where this applies
- When you feel that scholarly, abstract religion and simple heartfelt devotion are somehow opposed to each other
- When you are intimidated by complex scripture and doubt whether it connects to your ordinary personal faith
- When someone claims that true spirituality requires elaborate ritual and formal Sanskrit learning rather than love
- When you want to explain to someone why the grandest theology and the simplest prayer point to the same reality