Abhanga 159
Give any hard task a rhythm, such as a name or a song repeated with your effort, and the labor stops feeling like fatigue while the separation between you and the one you love quietly dissolves.
The verse
सावडीं कांडण ओवी नारायण । निवडे आपण भूस सार ॥१॥ मुसळ आधारीं आवरूनि धरीं । सांवरोनि थिरीं घाव घालीं ॥ध्रु.॥ वाजती कांकणें अनुहात गजरें । छंद माहियेरे गाऊं गीति ॥२॥ कांडिता कांडण नव्हे भाग शीण । तुजमजपण निवडे तों ॥३॥ तुका म्हणे रूप उमटे आरिसा । पाक त्या सरिसा शुद्ध जाला ॥४॥
Literal translation
Easy pounding — Nārāyaṇa is the ovi (work-song); the husk and the grain-essence separate by themselves. Hold the pestle in the support, wrapping firmly; settling steady, strike the blow. Bangles ring in the un-struck-sound clamor; let us sing songs of the māher-rhythm. While pounding, the pounding is no labor-fatigue — until your-and-my-ness is separated (out). Tuka says: the form is impressed in the mirror; along with that, the cooking-result also became pure.
मराठी: सावडीं कांडण — ओवी (कामाचं गाणं) नारायण; भूस आणि सार स्वतःहून निवडतात. मुसळ आधारात आवरून धर — सांवरून थिर, घाव घाल. कांकणं वाजतात अनुहात गजरात; माहियेरचा छंद गीत गाऊ. कांडता कांडण भाग-शीण नाही — तुज-मज-पण निवडेपर्यंत. तुकाराम म्हणतात — रूप आरशात उमटतं; पाक त्याच्यासरशी शुद्ध झाला.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| सावडीं कांडण | "the easy/handy pounding" (or with the right hand) |
| ओवी नारायण | "the ovi (work-song) is Nārāyaṇa" |
| निवडे आपण भूस सार | "the husk and grain (essence) separate by themselves" |
| मुसळ आधारीं आवरूनि धरीं | "hold the pestle in the supporting (handle), wrapping (it firmly)" |
| सांवरोनि थिरीं घाव घालीं | "settling steady, strike the blow" |
| वाजती कांकणें अनुहात गजरें | "bangles ring in the anuhata (un-struck-sound) clamor" |
| छंद माहियेरे गाऊं गीति | "let us sing songs of the māher-rhythm" |
| कांडिता कांडण नव्हे भाग शीण | "while pounding, the pounding is no labor-fatigue" |
| तुजमजपण निवडे तों | "until your-and-my-ness is separated (out)" |
| रूप उमटे आरिसा | "the form is impressed in the mirror" |
| पाक त्या सरिसा शुद्ध जाला | "along with that, the cooking-result also became pure" |
What it means
Continuation of 158's kanḍaṇa (rice-pounding) imagery. Where 158 set up the work, this abhang names the trick that makes the work effortless: the ovi (work-song) is Nārāyaṇa.
The folk practice: women pounding rice sing ovis — short rhythmic verses — that synchronize the blows and lighten the work. Tukaram recodes: if the ovi itself is the deity's name, then the work and the practice are one event.
- भूस सार निवडे आपण — husk and grain separate by themselves. With the right rhythm, the work outputs separation without effort.
- अनुहात गजरें — the un-struck-sound clamor. Anuhata / anāhata is the un-struck inner sound of yogic tradition — the spontaneous resonance heard in deep meditation. Here it is mapped to the clamor of bangles — the everyday women's-work-sound is the cosmic anāhata.
- तुजमजपण निवडे — I-and-you-ness separates out — this is the actual output of the practice. The work is not for grain; it is for the separation of I-and-you. Compare 080: जेव्हां गेला अहंकार, तेव्हां आपपर बोळविले.
- रूप उमटे आरिसा — the form is impressed in the mirror. When I-and-you drops, the form (Nārāyaṇa) appears in the mirror (clean-mind). And पाक शुद्ध जाला — the cooking-result is purified along with the form-appearance.
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For someone today
This abhang names the principle that a song makes hard work effortless. If your practice — meditation, chores, work, study, anything — feels like sheer labor and fatigue, what's missing is an accompanying rhythm, an ovi. That rhythm doesn't have to be Nārāyaṇa's name specifically; it just needs to be something rhythmic that aligns your effort, blow by blow. Tukaram's specific suggestion is to let the deity's name become that rhythm.
The test for whether it's working is precise: while you're pounding, there's no fatigue — and as you continue, the sense of separateness between you and the one you love quietly dissolves. Two signs to watch for: no fatigue while you're doing the work, because rhythm has replaced sheer labor; and the boundary between you and the beloved dissolving as the work proceeds, because the doer is dissolving into the rhythm of the doing. If both are happening, you're doing it right. If neither is, either the song is missing or your grip on the task itself is wrong — and that's a fixable, structural problem, not a mystery.
मराठी: ही ओवी असं सांगते की गाणं कठीण कामाला सोपं बनवतं. तुमची साधना — ध्यान, घरकाम, नोकरीचं काम, अभ्यास, काहीही — जर निव्वळ श्रम आणि थकवा वाटत असेल, तर त्यात एक सोबतची लय — ओवी — नसते हेच कारण आहे. ती लय नारायणाच्या नावाचीच असायला हवी असं नाही; तिने फक्त प्रत्येक घावाला जोडून धरणारं काहीतरी लयबद्ध असावं. तुकारामांची विशिष्ट सूचना अशी की देवाचं नाव हीच लय बनू द्या.
हे काम होतंय की नाही याची कसोटी नेमकी आहे: कांडताना थकवा जाणवत नाही — आणि काम पुढे सरकत असताना तुमच्या आणि प्रिय व्यक्तीमधलं अंतर हळूहळू विरघळत जातं. दोन खुणा पाहाव्यात: काम करताना थकवा नसणं (कारण लयीने श्रमाची जागा घेतली आहे), आणि काम पुढे जात असताना तुज-मज मधलं अंतर विरघळत जाणं (कारण कर्ता त्या लयीत विरघळतो आहे). दोन्ही घडत असतील तर तुम्ही बरोबर करत आहात. एकही घडत नसेल तर एकतर ओवी हरवली आहे किंवा तुमची कामावरची पकड चुकीची आहे — आणि हे कोडं नसून सुधारता येणारी, संरचनात्मक अडचण आहे.
Where this applies
- Practice feels like labor. Add the ovi (rhythmic name).
- I-and-you separating out is the output. Recognize this as success-condition.
- Mirror-image clean appears spontaneously. पाक त्या सरिसा शुद्ध जाला.