Abhanga 142
This abhang describes the rare moment when the riddle of 'I am, this is mine' has actually dissolved, continuing the thought from 0141. The marker is आपणा आपण पाहिलें — seeing the self by the self — meaning there is no longer a separate watcher looking at the self from outside. The world now feels like पदोपदी कान्हो — every step is Kanho — the presence of the deity is no longer a metaphor but something directly felt. For the rest of us, the lesson is that this arrival happens all at once, not gradually, and it can't be singled out or pointed to, because the arrived state isn't a separate thing you can hold up and show.
The verse
नुगवे तें उगवून सांगितलें भाई । घालुनियां ताळा आतां शुद्ध राखा घाई ॥१॥ आतां कांहीं नाहीं राहिलें । म्यां आपणा आपण पाहिलें ॥ध्रु.॥ कमाईस मोल येथें नका रीस मानू। निवडूं नये मज कोणा येथें वानूं ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पदोपदीं कान्हो वनमाळी । जयेजत मग सेवटिला एक वेळीं ॥३॥
Literal translation
What doesn't unravel — I have unraveled and told you, brother. Having put the count — now keep it pure with haste. Now nothing remains; I have seen myself by myself. Do not envy the gain here; I cannot be selected out — don't praise me here. Tuka says: at every step, Kanho-Vanmali — I have won, in the end, all-at-once.
मराठी: न उगवणारं — तुला उगवून सांगितलंय, भाई — ताळा घालून आता त्वरेने शुद्ध राख. आता काहीच राहिलं नाही — मी आपणाला आपणच पाहिलंय. इथल्या कमाईला रीस (हेवा) नका; मला निवडता येणार नाही — इथे वान (प्रशंसा) करू नका. तुकाराम म्हणतात — पदोपदी कान्हो-वनमाळी — मी जयजेत — शेवटी, एका वेळी (सर्व).
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| नुगवे तें उगवून सांगितलें भाई | "what doesn't unravel — I have unraveled and told you, brother" |
| घालुनियां ताळा आतां शुद्ध राखा घाई | "having put the count, now keep (it) pure with haste" |
| आतां कांहीं नाहीं राहिलें | "now nothing remains" |
| म्यां आपणा आपण पाहिलें | "I have seen myself by myself" |
| कमाईस मोल येथें नका रीस मानू | "do not envy the gain here" |
| निवडूं नये मज कोणा येथें वानूं | "I cannot be selected out — do not praise me here" |
| पदोपदीं कान्हो वनमाळी | "at every step — Kanho-Vanmali (Krishna with the wild-flower garland)" |
| जयेजत मग सेवटिला एक वेळीं | "I have won in the end, all-at-once" |
What it means
A self-seen-by-self arrival abhang. म्यां आपणा आपण पाहिलें — I have seen myself by myself — is one of the most-quoted Tukaram lines in non-dual traditions. The structural claim: the seer and the seen have collapsed; आपणा आपण — self-by-self. The closing image — पदोपदीं कान्हो वनमाळी — at every step, Kanho-Vanmali — names the post-arrival pervasion: every step is the deity. The जयेजत मग सेवटिला एक वेळीं — I have won — in the end, all-at-once — names the singular-victory: not by accumulation but by one final dropping. [T] [Tradition]
For someone today
This abhang describes the rare moment when the riddle of 'I am, this is mine' has actually dissolved, continuing the thought from 0141. The marker is आपणा आपण पाहिलें — seeing the self by the self — meaning there is no longer a separate watcher looking at the self from outside. The world now feels like पदोपदी कान्हो — every step is Kanho — the presence of the deity is no longer a metaphor but something directly felt. For the rest of us, the lesson is that this arrival happens all at once, not gradually, and it can't be singled out or pointed to, because the arrived state isn't a separate thing you can hold up and show.
In practice: don't claim arrival before it happens — the all-at-once test is exact. And don't envy anyone else's apparent arrival either, because the arrived state can't be picked out from the outside — it's invisible to onlookers.
मराठी: ही ओवी त्या दुर्मीळ क्षणाबद्दल आहे जेव्हा 'मी आहे, हे माझं आहे' हे कोडं खरोखर विरघळून जातं — ०१४१ मधल्या विचाराची पुढची पायरी. याची खूण म्हणजे आपणा आपण पाहिलें — स्वतःला स्वतःनेच पाहणं — म्हणजे आता पाहणारा आणि पाहिला जाणारा असे वेगळे राहिलेले नाहीत. जग आता पदोपदी कान्हो असं वाटतं — प्रत्येक पावलावर कान्हो — देवाची उपस्थिती हे रूपक न राहता प्रत्यक्ष अनुभवाची गोष्ट बनते. बाकीच्यांसाठी शिकवण अशी की हे आगमन एकाच वेळी होतं, टप्प्याटप्प्याने नाही, आणि ते कुणाला दाखवून देण्यासारखं वेगळं काढता येत नाही — कारण आलेली अवस्था स्वतंत्रपणे दाखवण्याची वस्तू नसते.
व्यवहारात: आगमन होण्याआधी त्याचा दावा करू नका — 'एकाच वेळी' ही कसोटी अचूक आहे. आणि दुसऱ्याच्या दिसणाऱ्या आगमनाचा हेवाही करू नका — कारण आलेली अवस्था बाहेरून कुणालाच निवडून दाखवता येत नाही, ती पाहणाऱ्याला अदृश्यच असते.
Where this applies
- Actually arrived at self-seen-by-self. Recognize without claiming.
- Others might envy your gain. Position is not-pickable-out.
- Each step Kanho-Vanmali. Recognize the felt-quality.