Abhanga 45
English: This abhang is for the moment when you have been searching for spiritual experience outside — in retreats, books, teachers, geographies — and Tukaram's claim is: you do not need to leave to find what you are looking for. The searching-outside is itself the obstacle. The instruction is uncomfortably simple: अंगीं डोळे उघडी — open the eyes in your own body. The eyes are already there.
The verse
दुजें खंडे तरी । उरला तो अवघा हरि ॥ आपणाबाहेरी । न लगे ठाव धुंडावा ॥१॥ इतुलें जाणावया जाणा । कोंडें तरी मनें मना ॥ पारधीच्या खुणा । जाणतें चि साधावे ॥ध्रु.॥ देह आधीं काय खरा । देहसंबंधपसारा ॥ बुजगावणें चोरा । रक्षणसें भासतें ॥२॥ तुका करी जागा । नको चाचपूं वाउगा ॥ आहेसि तूं आगा । अंगीं डोळे उघडी ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: When the second is broken, what remains is all Hari. There is no need to search a place outside oneself. To know just this — corral it: mind by mind. With the hunter's signs, go after the knowing itself. Is the body even real? The whole spread of body-relations: to the thief, the scarecrow seems a guard. Tuka says: wake up; do not grope vainly. You are here — open the eyes in your own body.
मराठी: दुसरं खंडित झालं तर — जे उरतं ते सर्व हरि. आपल्याबाहेर जागा शोधायची गरज नाही. इतकं जाणून घ्यायचं असेल तर — मनाने मनाला कोंड. पारधीच्या खुणांनी जाणणाराच साधायचा. देहच आधी खरा का? देह-संबंधांचा पसारा — चोराला बुजगावणं रक्षण वाटतं. तुकाराम म्हणतात — जागे व्हा; व्यर्थ चाचपडू नका. तू आहेसच — अंगातले डोळे उघड.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| दुजें खंडे तरी | "when the second is broken / cut" |
| उरला तो अवघा हरि | "what remains is all Hari" |
| आपणाबाहेरी न लगे ठाव धुंडावा | "no need to search a place outside oneself" |
| कोंडें तरी मनें मना | "if you would corral it — by mind, the mind" |
| पारधीच्या खुणा जाणतें चि साधावे | "with the hunter's signs, go after the known itself" |
| देह आधीं काय खरा | "is the body even real to begin with?" |
| देहसंबंधपसारा | "the spread / extension of body-relations" |
| बुजगावणें चोरा रक्षणसें भासतें | "to the thief, the scarecrow seems like a guard" |
| करी जागा | "wake up" |
| नको चाचपूं वाउगा | "do not grope vainly" |
| आहेसि तूं आगा | "you are here / present, indeed!" |
| अंगीं डोळे उघडी | "open the eyes in your own body" |
What it means
The opening line is one of Tukaram's most precise non-dualist statements: दुजें खंडे तरी, उरला तो अवघा हरि — when the second is broken, what remains is all Hari. The दुजे (the second, the other-than-Self) is the construct of duality; once it dissolves, all that remains is the divine. The corollary is structural: आपणाबाहेरी न लगे ठाव धुंडावा — no need to search a place outside oneself. [T]
The middle image — बुजगावणें चोरा रक्षणसें भासतें — to the thief, the scarecrow seems like a guard — is a small philosophical poem in itself. The body-relations (देहसंबंधपसारा) are a scarecrow: they appear protective from outside but contain nothing. The thief who is intimidated by the scarecrow is the unawakened mind, mistaking the body-identity for a real guardian. Once you see the scarecrow as a scarecrow, the bluff is over. [T]
The closing instruction — अंगीं डोळे उघडी — open the eyes in your own body — is the abhang's whole instruction compressed. You do not need to leave; you do not need to search. You need to open the eyes that are here. [T]
For someone today
English: This abhang is for the moment when you have been searching for spiritual experience outside — in retreats, books, teachers, geographies — and Tukaram's claim is: you do not need to leave to find what you are looking for. The searching-outside is itself the obstacle. The instruction is uncomfortably simple: अंगीं डोळे उघडी — open the eyes in your own body. The eyes are already there.
The scarecrow image is the second teaching. The identity you have built — I am this body, this name, this set of relationships, this story — is a scarecrow. It looks protective from a distance; it contains nothing inside. The thief — meaning the seeker, in this poem's reverse-image — is fooled by the scarecrow into thinking the body-identity is guarding something. Once you see the scarecrow as a scarecrow, the apparent protection dissolves and what was behind the scarecrow becomes visible. There was nothing to protect; what was hidden was the not-needing-protection.
मराठी: ही ओवी अशा क्षणासाठी जेव्हा तुम्ही आध्यात्मिक अनुभव बाहेर शोधत आहात — retreat, पुस्तकं, गुरू, geographies — आणि तुकारामांचा दावा: तुम्ही जे शोधत आहात ते मिळवायला सोडून जायची गरज नाही. बाहेर-शोधणं हाच अडथळा. सूचना अस्वस्थ करणाऱ्या रीतीनं सोपी: अंगीं डोळे उघडी. डोळे आधीच आहेत.
बुजगावणं हे image दुसरी शिकवण. तुम्ही बांधलेली ओळख — मी हे शरीर, हे नाव, हे नातं, ही कथा — एक बुजगावणं आहे. दुरून रक्षणकारी दिसतं; आत काही नाही. चोर — म्हणजे या कवितेत reverse मध्ये शोधक — बुजगावण्याला रक्षक समजून फसतो. एकदा तुम्ही बुजगावण्याला बुजगावणं म्हणून पाहिलंत — स्पष्ट संरक्षण विरघळतं आणि मागे जे होतं ते दिसू लागतं. रक्षण करायला काही नव्हतंच; जे लपलेलं होतं ते म्हणजे रक्षणाची गरज नसणं.
Where this applies
- When you keep looking out there for the divine. Stop. अंगीं डोळे उघडी.
- When the identity you've built has been revealed as hollow. The scarecrow is no longer scaring anything. Note that — and notice what becomes visible.
- When you've been trying to learn non-duality intellectually. The shortcut is the simpler instruction. Open the eyes that are here.