Abhanga 141
This abhang names a precise spiritual move. The I-am, mine-is-mine riddle is the recurring source of strife. Tukaram's recommendation: don't try to solve it intellectually; drop the abhimāna. The entire riddle dissolves with the dropping; it is unbreakable while abhimāna remains. The middle line — ज्यालें ज्यवो मेलें मरो प्रारब्धा हातीं — let the to-be-born be born, the to-die die, in prarabdha's hand — is the practical posture: events unfold; the bhakta lives them, dies them, doesn't claim them.
The verse
कोडें रे कोडें ऐका हें कोडें । उगवूनि फार राहे गुंतोनियां थोडें ॥१॥ पुसतसे सांगा मी हें माझें ऐसें काई । रुसूं नका नुगवे तो झवे आपुली आई ॥ध्रु.॥ सांगतों हें मूळ काहीं न धरावी खंती । ज्यालें ज्यवो मेलें मरो प्रारब्धा हातीं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे अभिमान सांडावा सकळीं । नये अंगावरी वांयां येऊं देऊं कळी ॥३॥
Literal translation
English: A riddle — listen to this riddle. Much of it gets solved; a little remains tangled. (The riddle) asks — tell me — I-am, mine-is-mine — what is that? Don't sulk; whoever doesn't solve it — loses badly. I tell you the root — don't carry sorrow. What is to be born — let it be born; what is to die — let it die — (it is) in prarabdha's hand. Tuka says: drop abhimāna entirely. Do not let trouble come upon the body in vain.
मराठी: कोडं रे कोडं — ऐक हे कोडं. खूप उगवतं, थोडंसंच गुंतलेलं राहतं. सांगा — मी आहे, हे माझं — ते काय? — हे विचारतं. रुसू नका — न उगवणारा — आपल्याच आईला झवतो (बेशरम). मूळ सांगतो — खंती धरू नका. जे जगायचं ते जगो; जे मरायचं ते मरो — प्रारब्धाच्या हाती. तुकाराम म्हणतात — अभिमान सर्वस्वी सांडा. व्यर्थ अंगावर कळी (त्रास) येऊ देऊ नका.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| कोडें रे कोडें ऐका हें कोडें | "a riddle, a riddle — listen to this riddle" |
| उगवूनि फार राहे गुंतोनियां थोडें | "much (of it) becomes solved — a little remains tangled" |
| पुसतसे सांगा मी हें माझें ऐसें काई | "asking — tell me — I-am, mine-is-mine — what is that?" |
| रुसूं नका नुगवे तो झवे आपुली आई | "don't sulk — whoever doesn't solve it — insults his own mother" (a vulgar Marathi idiom — = "loses badly") |
| सांगतों हें मूळ काहीं न धरावी खंती | "I tell you the root — don't carry sorrow" |
| ज्यालें ज्यवो मेलें मरो प्रारब्धा हातीं | "what is to be born — let it be born; what is to die — let it die — (it is) in prarabdha's hand" |
| अभिमान सांडावा सकळीं | "abhimāna should be dropped — entirely" |
| नये अंगावरी वांयां येऊं देऊं कळी | "do not let the kali (trouble / strife) come on the body in vain" |
What it means
A short riddle-of-self abhang. The structural claim: the I-am, mine-is-mine riddle is the puzzle of human life. Most of it can be unraveled by reflection — but a little remains tangled. The fully-tangled remainder doesn't unsolve by more thinking; it dissolves by दabhimāna सांडावा — dropping abhimāna entirely. The middle teaching: prarabdha governs birth-and-death — what is to happen, happens; what is to not, doesn't. The bhakta's posture is not-carrying-sorrow, not-letting-strife-come-on-body-in-vain. The riddle is solved by not-needing-to-solve-it. [T]
For someone today
This abhang names a precise spiritual move. The I-am, mine-is-mine riddle is the recurring source of strife. Tukaram's recommendation: don't try to solve it intellectually; drop the abhimāna. The entire riddle dissolves with the dropping; it is unbreakable while abhimāna remains. The middle line — ज्यालें ज्यवो मेलें मरो प्रारब्धा हातीं — let the to-be-born be born, the to-die die, in prarabdha's hand — is the practical posture: events unfold; the bhakta lives them, dies them, doesn't claim them.
The closing — नये अंगावरी वांयां येऊं देऊं कळी — don't let trouble come on the body in vain — is honest: most of the strife you're carrying is unnecessary, an artifact of holding the I-claim. Drop it; the strife dissolves with it.
मराठी: ही ओवी एक precise आध्यात्मिक हालचाल नाव सांगते. मी आहे, हे माझं कोडं — strife चा recurring source. तुकारामांची शिफारस: intellectually solve करायचं नाही; अभिमान सांडा. dropping ने पूर्ण कोडं विरघळतं; अभिमान असेपर्यंत ते अनुपलब्ध आहे. मधली ओळ — ज्यालें ज्यवो मेलें मरो प्रारब्धा हातीं — practical posture: events unfold; भक्त ते जगतो, मरतो, claim करत नाही.
शेवट — नये अंगावरी वांयां येऊं देऊं कळी — प्रामाणिक: तुम्ही उचलत असलेला बहुतेक strife अनावश्यक, I-claim धरण्यातून आलेला artifact. सोडा; strife त्याबरोबरच विरघळतो.
Where this applies
- Trying to untangle I-and-mine by argument. Doesn't unsolve.
- Residue of unresolved self-claim. Drop abhimāna.
- Prarabdha framing. Live what is to be lived; die what is to be died.