Abhanga 48
If they abuse you and if they worship you, the same response: neither this nor that. You are separate from both. Whatever bodily-experience comes, comes — let it. Everything reaches Narayana.
The verse
निंदी कोणी मारी । वंदी कोणी पूजा करी ॥१॥ मज हें ही नाहीं तें ही नाहीं । वेगळा दोहीं पासुनी ॥ध्रु.॥ देहभोग भोगें घडे । जें जें जोडे तें बरें ॥२॥ अवघें पावे नारायणीं । जनार्दनीं तुक्याचें ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: Some abuse, some strike; some bow, some worship. To me — neither this nor that; I am separate from both. Bodily experience comes through; whatever comes is fine. All of it reaches Narayana — Tuka's, in Janardana.
मराठी: कोणी निंदा करतो, कुणी मारतो; कोणी वंदन करतो, कुणी पूजा. मला हेही नाही, तेही नाही — दोन्हींपासून वेगळा. देहभोग भोगाने होतोच; जे जे जोडलं तेच बरं. सर्व नारायणाला पावतं — जनार्दनाला, तुकाचं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| निंदी कोणी मारी | "let some abuse, let some strike" |
| वंदी कोणी पूजा करी | "let some bow, let some worship" |
| मज हें ही नाहीं तें ही नाहीं | "to me, neither this nor that" |
| वेगळा दोहीं पासुनी | "I am separate from both" |
| देहभोग भोगें घडे | "bodily experience comes by experience (= just happens)" |
| जें जें जोडे तें बरें | "whatever joins / comes is fine" |
| अवघें पावे नारायणीं | "everything reaches Narayana" |
| जनार्दनीं तुक्याचें | "in Janardana, (this is) Tuka's" |
What it means
A precise statement of equanimity. The four poles — निंदा, मारी, वंदी, पूजा (abuse, strike, bow, worship) — span the full range of how people respond to the bhakta. Tukaram's response is structural: मज हें ही नाहीं तें ही नाहीं — to me, neither this nor that. The position is separate from both — not aligned with either. Verse 2 acknowledges the body's exposure: देहभोग भोगें घडे — bodily experience just happens. This is not denial of the body's reality; it is recognition that the body's experience is not the verdict on the self. Verse 3 closes: everything reaches Narayana. The praise and the blame are both delivered upstream. [T]
For someone today
English: This abhang is for the moment when you find yourself emotionally tracking what people think of you — calibrating to the praise, contracting from the blame. Tukaram offers a single response for both: separate from both. This is not pretended detachment; it is the recognition that both responses pass through the body, but the verdict-on-the-self is not in either. The body experiences the praise and the blame; the self that is separate from both receives neither as verdict. The freedom this names is not anesthesia — bodily experience still happens. The freedom is from the interpretation of bodily experience as verdict.
मराठी: ही ओवी अशा क्षणासाठी जेव्हा तुम्ही emotionally track करत आहात की लोकांना तुमच्याबद्दल काय वाटतं — प्रशंसेला calibrate होता, टीकेपासून आकुंचन पावता. तुकाराम दोन्हीसाठी एकच प्रतिसाद देतात: दोन्हींपासून वेगळा. हे ढोंगी detachment नाही; हे ओळखणं की दोन्ही प्रतिसाद देहाला पोहोचतात, पण self-वर निकाल देणारे नाहीत. देहाला प्रशंसा आणि निंदा अनुभवतात; दोन्हींपासून वेगळा असलेला self दोन्ही निकाल म्हणून घेत नाही. हे स्वातंत्र्य anaesthesia नाही — देह-अनुभव होतोच. स्वातंत्र्य आहे देह-अनुभवाचं निकालात interpretation करण्यापासून.
Where this applies
- When you receive both criticism and praise from the same source. Tukaram's single response: separate from both.
- When you've been tracking what people think. The position that is neither here nor there is the resource.
- When body-experience feels like verdict. It isn't. देहभोग भोगें घडे.