संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 92 of 4582

Abhanga 92

This abhang is for the moment when you half-believe the bhakti tradition's claim that the deity will respond but cannot fully commit because certainty is missing. Tukaram's diagnostic is uncomfortable: the only one cheated is the uncertain one. The deity has done the work for those certain enough to see (the saints listed). The bottleneck is निर्धार — certainty / firm-resolve. The cure is not better arguments; it is acting from certainty. The action-from-certainty produces the result; the action-from-uncertainty produces the cheating.

When you can't tell whether the deity-as-debtor claim is theology or wishful thinking — and Tukaram offers biographical examples

When you're in the middle of a certainty problem — half-believing, half-not — and noticing the certainty itself is the variable

When you have to remember the saints whose lives are evidence — and use them as scripture, not as legend

The verse

भक्तॠणी देव बोलती पुराणें । निर्धार वचनें साच करीं ॥१॥ मागें काय जाणों अइकिली वार्त्ता । कबिर सातें जातां घडिया वांटी ॥ध्रु.॥ माघारिया धन आणिलें घरासि । न घे केला त्यासि त्याग तेणें ॥२॥ नामदेवाचिया घरासि आणिलें । तेणें लुटविलें द्विजां हातीं ॥३॥ प्रत्यक्षासि काय द्यावें हें प्रमाण । व्यंकोबाचें ॠण फेडियेलें ॥४॥ बीज दळोनियां केली आराधना । लागे नारायणा पेरणें तें ॥५॥ तुका म्हणे नाहीं जयासि निर्धार । नाडला साचार तो चि एक ॥६॥

Literal translation

English: The Puranas say the deity is debtor to the devotee — make these words true through certainty. What I have heard from the past: Kabir, going on a procession of seven, was distributing the (miraculous) pots. (The deity) brought wealth back to (a saint's) house — he did not accept it, renounced it. (The deity) brought (wealth) to Namdev's house — he distributed it among the brahmins. What more proof can be given to one who sees this directly? Vyankoba's debt was paid (by the deity). When (a saint) ground the very seed-grain and made worship — Narayana himself had to (re-)sow the field. Tuka says: the one who has no certainty is the only one who is truly cheated.

मराठी: "भक्त-ॠणी देव" — पुराणं म्हणतात; निर्धार-वचनांनी (तुम्ही) ते खरं करा. मागे काय वार्ता ऐकली — कबीर सात जातांना पटांची वाटणी करत होता. (देवाने) धन घरी आणलं; त्याने त्याग केला, घेतलं नाही. नामदेवाच्या घरी आणलं; त्याने ते द्विजांना लुटवलं. प्रत्यक्षाला काय प्रमाण द्यायचं? व्यंकोबाचं ऋण फेडलं. बीज दळून आराधना केली — नारायणालाच पेरणी करायला लागली. तुकाराम म्हणतात — ज्याला निर्धार नाही, तो खरोखर एकच नाडला आहे.

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
भक्तॠणी देव	"the deity is debtor to the devotee"
बोलती पुराणें	"the Puranas say"
निर्धार वचनें साच करीं	"make these words true through certainty"
कबिर सातें जातां घडिया वांटी	"Kabir was distributing pots while going on a procession of seven" (a specific Kabir miracle-story)
माघारिया धन आणिलें घरासि	"(the deity) brought back wealth to the house"
न घे केला त्यासि त्याग	"but (the saint) did not take it — renounced it"
नामदेवाचिया घरासि	"to Namdev's house"
तेणें लुटविलें द्विजां हातीं	"(Namdev) had it distributed to brahmins"
प्रत्यक्षासि काय द्यावें	"what proof do you need beyond the visible?"
व्यंकोबाचें ॠण फेडियेलें	"Vyankoba's debt was paid (by the deity)"
बीज दळोनियां केली आराधना	"ground the seed and made worship (of it)"
लागे नारायणा पेरणें तें	"Narayana himself had to (re-)sow"
नाहीं जयासि निर्धार, नाडला साचार	"the one without certainty is truly cheated"

What it means

This abhang is evidence-by-saint-stories. Tukaram cites specific names from earlier sant-tradition (Kabir, Namdev, Vyankoba) as biographical proof of the भक्तॠणी देव (deity-as-debtor-of-devotee) claim. Each story illustrates a different angle: deity brings wealth → saint refuses; deity brings wealth → saint redistributes; deity pays debt; deity does the sowing the saint interrupted by grinding the seed for worship. The closing line is the cutting one: नाहीं जयासि निर्धार, नाडला साचार तो चि एक — the one without certainty is the only one truly cheated. The deity is a debtor to devotees; the obstacle is the devotee's lack-of-certainty, not the deity's lack-of-response. [T]

For someone today

This abhang is for the moment when you half-believe the bhakti tradition's claim that the deity will respond but cannot fully commit because certainty is missing. Tukaram's diagnostic is uncomfortable: the only one cheated is the uncertain one. The deity has done the work for those certain enough to see (the saints listed). The bottleneck is निर्धार — certainty / firm-resolve. The cure is not better arguments; it is acting from certainty. The action-from-certainty produces the result; the action-from-uncertainty produces the cheating.

मराठी: ही ओवी त्या क्षणासाठी जेव्हा तुम्ही bhakti तंत्राच्या दाव्यावर — देव प्रतिसाद देईल — अर्ध-विश्वास ठेवता पण पूर्ण commit करू शकत नाही कारण निर्धार हरवलाय. तुकारामांचा अस्वस्थ diagnostic: नाडलेला एकच — निर्धार नसलेला. देवाने पाहाणाऱ्यांसाठी (वर नाव दिलेल्या संतांसाठी) काम केलं आहे. bottleneck निर्धार. उपाय better arguments नाही — निर्धारातून कृती. निर्धारातून कृती परिणाम देते; अनिश्चिततेतून कृती फसवते.

Where this applies

Half-believing deity-as-debtor. निर्धार is the variable, not the deity.
Certainty problem. Tukaram's biographical evidence is the antidote.
Saints' lives as scripture. Use them as such, not as legend.