Abhanga 52
When the I-ness is auctioned off, what inhabits the body is Pandurang. The body is not lost; it is repopulated.
The verse
माझिया मीपणा । जाला यावरी उगाणा ॥१॥ भोगी त्यागी पांडुरंग । त्यानें वसविलें अंग ॥ध्रु.॥ टाळिलें निमित्त । फार थोडें घात हित ॥२॥ यावें कामावरी । तुका म्हणे नाहीं उरी ॥३॥ सकळ चिंतामणी शरीर । जरी जाय अहंकार आशा समूळ ॥
Literal translation
English: My I-ness has been put to auction. Pandurang enjoys and renounces — He has populated the body. The pretext is set aside; harm-or-benefit, larger or smaller, is no concern. Let work come; Tuka says — there is nothing left over (of me). The whole body becomes a wish-fulfilling-jewel — if ego and hope leave, root and all.
मराठी: माझ्या मीपणाचा यावर उगाणा झाला. भोगी-त्यागी पांडुरंग — त्याने अंग वसवलं. निमित्त टाळलं; घात-हित कमी-जास्त बघायचं नाही. कामावर येऊ; तुकाराम म्हणतात — उरी नाही. अहंकार आणि आशा मुळासकट गेली, तर सकळ शरीर चिंतामणी होतं.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| माझिया मीपणा | "my I-ness" (मीपणा = the I-ness, the ego-quality) |
| जाला यावरी उगाणा | "has been put to auction / released for cheap" (उगाणा = auction, public release) |
| भोगी त्यागी पांडुरंग | "Pandurang enjoys and renounces" (the same Pandurang does both) |
| त्यानें वसविलें अंग | "He has populated the body" |
| टाळिलें निमित्त | "the pretext is set aside" |
| फार थोडें घात हित | "harm-or-benefit of the few or many" |
| यावें कामावरी | "(let one) come to work" |
| नाहीं उरी | "there is nothing left over (for me)" |
| सकळ चिंतामणी शरीर | "the whole body becomes the wish-fulfilling-jewel" (चिंतामणी = wish-jewel) |
| जरी जाय अहंकार आशा समूळ | "if ego and hope go, root and all" |
What it means
The image is striking: I-ness (मीपणा) has been auctioned (उगाणा). The body is then populated by Pandurang — त्यानें वसविलें अंग. So the body is not emptied by the I-ness leaving; it is repopulated by the deity. The bhakta's body becomes चिंतामणी — the wish-fulfilling jewel — provided the ego and hope have gone root and all (समूळ). [T]
For someone today
English: Modern psychology often warns about ego-loss as a danger — depersonalization, dissociation, loss of agency. Tukaram's claim is that the bhakti version of ego-loss is not emptying — it is repopulation. The body becomes the wish-fulfilling-jewel because Pandurang now inhabits it. The fear that losing the self leaves an empty husk is wrong by Tukaram's account; what arrives is a different occupant. The diagnostic for whether the ego-loss is the bhakti kind: is the body more capable than before, more responsive than before, more wish-fulfilling than before? If yes — repopulation has happened. If no — the loss may be something else.
मराठी: आधुनिक मानसशास्त्र ego-loss ला धोका मानतं — depersonalization, dissociation, agency-loss. तुकारामांचा दावा — bhakti version चा ego-loss रिकामं करणं नाही — पुनःवस्ती. शरीर चिंतामणी होतं कारण आता पांडुरंग त्यात राहतो. self गमावल्याने रिकामी कोवळी राहते ही भीती तुकारामांच्या account नुसार चूक आहे; जे येतं ते वेगळा निवासी. ego-loss हा bhakti kind आहे का याचं निदान: शरीर आधीपेक्षा अधिक सक्षम आहे का, अधिक प्रतिसादशील आहे का, अधिक wish-fulfilling आहे का? असेल — पुनःवस्ती झाली. नसेल — काहीतरी दुसरं आहे.
Where this applies
- When you've stopped saying I about your work. Notice who is doing it now.
- When you find yourself unexpectedly capable. त्यानें वसविलें अंग. Note the new occupant.
- When you fear losing self means losing capacity. The body gets repopulated, not emptied.