संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 194 of 4582

Abhanga 194

Ordinary life's constant mood swings cause suffering, but holding to a shared, inherited rhythm of practice keeps you steady and free of that trap.

When the triguṇa-rounds are making you suffer — and you have to recognize the hold-the-four fix

When one-ghāī playing without missing is the discipline — and you have to recognize the rhythm-fidelity register

The verse

त्रिगुणांचे फेरी थोर कष्टी होसी । या चौघांसी तरी धरीं सोई रे ॥१॥ तेणें चि खेळें बसवंत होसी । ऐसें सत्य जाणें माझ्या भाई रे ॥ध्रु.॥ तेणें सतत फड जागविला रे । एक घाई खेळतां तो न चुके चि कोठें । तया संत जन मानवले रे ॥२॥ आपण भोंवतीं नाचती रे । सकळिकां मिळोनि एकी च घाई । त्याच्या ब्रम्हादिक लागती पायीं रे ॥३॥ तेथें नाद बरवा उमटला रे । ब्रम्हादिक सुरवर मिळोनियां त्यांनीं । तो ही खेळ निवडिला रे ॥४॥ तेणें वैष्णवांचा मेळ मेळविला रे । एक चि घाई खेळतां खेळतो । आपणचि बसवंत जाला रे ॥५॥ पुढिलांची धरूनियां सोई रे । एक चि घाई खेळतां जो चुकला । तो पडेल संसारडाई रे ॥६॥

Literal translation

In the triguṇa rounds, you suffer greatly. Hold to the four — find the way. With that play, you become basavanta (seated-lord). Know this as truth, my brother. With that, the assembly is constantly kept awake; playing one ghāī, he never misses anywhere; the saint-folk approved of him. He himself dances around (others); all together — one ghāī; even Brahmā etc. fall at his feet. There the good nāda emerged; Brahmā etc. and the suras together — they too sorted out the play. He gathered the vaiṣṇavas' band; playing one ghāī, he plays — became basavanta himself. Holding the previous-arrangement (the way of the predecessors) — playing the one ghāī — whoever missed — falls into samsāra-ḍāī.

मराठी: त्रिगुणांच्या फेरी थोर कष्टी होशी. या चौघांसी — सोय धर रे! त्याच खेळाने बसवंत होशी — हे सत्य जाण माझ्या भाई. त्याने सतत फड जागविला; एक घाई खेळतां तो न चुके चि कोठें — संत जन मानवले. आपण भोवती नाचतो; सकळिकां मिळोनि एकी च घाई; ब्रम्हादिक त्याच्या पायी लागतात. तिथे नाद बरवा उमटला; ब्रम्हादिक-सुरवर मिळून — खेळ निवडिला. त्याने वैष्णवांचा मेळ मेळवला; एक चि घाई खेळतां खेळतो — आपणच बसवंत झाला. पुढिलांची सोय धरूनिया — एक चि घाई खेळतां — जो चुकला — तो संसार-डाईत पडेल.

Word-by-word gloss

Marathi	Meaning
त्रिगुणांचे फेरी थोर कष्टी होसी	"in the triguṇa (sattva-rajas-tamas) rounds, you suffer greatly"
या चौघांसी तरी धरीं सोई	"hold to the four (chatur — the four-fold) — find the way"
तेणें चि खेळें बसवंत होसी	"with that play, you become basavanta (the seated-lord)"
तेणें सतत फड जागविला	"with that, the phaḍa (assembly / gathering) is constantly kept awake"
एक घाई खेळतां तो न चुके चि कोठें	"playing one ghāī (rhythm-clamor), he never misses anywhere"
तया संत जन मानवले	"the saint-folk approved of him"
सकळिकां मिळोनि एकी च घाई	"all together — one ghāī"
ब्रम्हादिक लागती पायीं	"even Brahmā etc. fall at (his) feet"
नाद बरवा उमटला	"the good nāda emerged"
वैष्णवांचा मेळ मेळविला	"(he) gathered the vaiṣṇavas' band"
एक चि घाई खेळतां खेळतो	"playing one ghāī — he plays"
आपणचि बसवंत जाला	"(he) himself became basavanta"
पुढिलांची धरूनियां सोई	"holding the pudhilā-soya (the previous-arrangement / way of the predecessors)"
एक चि घाई खेळतां जो चुकला	"playing one ghāī — whoever missed"
तो पडेल संसारडाई	"(he) will fall into samsāra-ḍāī (the trap of worldly-becoming)"

What it means

A continuation of 193's vāḷavaṇṭa-festival, with the technique-instruction register. Where 193 described the festival, 194 names the internal-discipline of the dance:

त्रिगुणांचे फेरी थोर कष्टी होसी — the triguṇa-rounds make you suffer greatly. The triguṇa (sattva-rajas-tamas) cycle is where ordinary-life suffers. The dance of the festival offers an exit.
या चौघांसी धरीं सोई — hold to the four. The four refers to the cātur-vidha bhakti / cātur-puruṣārtha / or in this context likely sat-chit-ānanda + ekatā (existence-consciousness-bliss-unity), the para-prakṛti states beyond the triguṇa. The exit-from-triguna is holding-the-four.
बसवंत होसी — you become basavanta. Basavanta is the seated-lord — one who has reached the seat. The dance, properly done, seats you.
एक घाई खेळतां तो न चुके चि कोठें — playing one ghāī, he never misses anywhere. The ghāī (rhythm-clamor / single-beat) is the unitary rhythm of the festival. The good player maintains one rhythm — does not break, does not falter, does not let attention slip. न चुके चि कोठें — misses nowhere — the fidelity-to-rhythm is total.
सकळिकां मिळोनि एकी च घाई — all together — one ghāī. The structural-claim about kīrtana: many bodies, one rhythm. The one-ghāī across many is what makes the festival a single-event.
पुढिलांची धरूनियां सोई — जो चुकला — तो पडेल संसारडाई — holding the previous-arrangement (the way of the predecessors); whoever missed (the one-ghāī) — falls into samsāra-ḍāī. The predecessors' way (the paramparā, the lineage-arrangement) is the one-ghāī. Missing the rhythm is falling into samsāra-ḍāī — the trap of worldly-becoming. The festival is the way out; missing-the-rhythm-of-the-festival is falling back in.

[T] [Standard warkari teaching about paramparā and kīrtana-discipline]

For someone today

This abhang names the technique of the vāḷavaṇṭa-festival:

The triguṇa-rounds are the suffering-ground. Sattva-rajas-tamas — the operating-states of ordinary mind — cycle; the cycling itself is the suffering. The dance is the exit.
Hold the four — sat-chit-ānanda + unity. Beyond the triguṇa, the para-prakṛti states. The holding — the attention-fidelity to these — is the practice.
One-ghāī — the unitary rhythm. Many bodies, one rhythm. If you are at a real kīrtana / collective-meditation / shared-practice, the one-ghāī is the shared-rhythm. Maintain it; don't let your individual-fluctuation break it.
Predecessors' arrangement is the rhythm-template. पुढिलांची सोई. The paramparā — the way the predecessors did this — is the one-ghāī. Don't innovate the rhythm.
Missing the one-ghāī falls into samsāra-ḍāī. The failure-mode is precise. Don't break the rhythm; if you do, you fall back into the trap of worldly-becoming.

For today: when at a real-collective-practice (any tradition) — recognize the one-ghāī. Don't introduce your own variation. Hold the predecessors' arrangement. Fidelity to the shared rhythm is the escape from the triguṇa-rounds.

मराठी: ही ओवी वाळवंटावरच्या उत्सवाची पद्धत सांगते.

त्रिगुणांच्या फेऱ्या हीच दुःखाची भूमी आहे — सत्त्व, रज, तम हे सामान्य मनाचे भाव सतत फिरत राहतात; हे फिरणंच दुःखाचं मूळ आहे. नाच हाच त्यातून बाहेर पडण्याचा मार्ग आहे.
त्या चौघांना धरून ठेवा — सत्, चित्, आनंद आणि एकता. त्रिगुणांच्या पलीकडच्या या अवस्था धरून ठेवणं, त्यांच्याशी एकनिष्ठ राहणं, हीच साधना आहे.
एक घाई — एकच सामायिक ताल. अनेक शरीरं असली तरी ताल एकच असतो. जर तुम्ही खऱ्या कीर्तनात, सामूहिक ध्यानात किंवा कोणत्याही सामायिक साधनेत असाल, तर हा एक घाई हाच सामायिक ताल आहे. तो टिकवून ठेवा; स्वतःच्या चंचलतेने तो तोडू नका.
पूर्वजांची रचना हाच तालाचा नमुना आहे. परंपरा — आधीच्या साधकांनी हे जसं केलं तेच — हाच एक घाई आहे. या तालात स्वतःची नवी भर घालू नका.
हा एक घाई चुकला की संसाराच्या सापळ्यात पडाल — ही चूक अगदी नेमकी आहे. ताल तोडू नका; तोडलात तर पुन्हा संसाराच्या जाळ्यात अडकाल.

आज एवढंच — कोणत्याही खऱ्या सामूहिक साधनेत असाल, तर तो एक सामायिक ताल ओळखा. स्वतःची वेगळी लय घालू नका. पूर्वजांची रचना धरून ठेवा. या सामायिक तालाशी निष्ठा राखणं — हाच त्रिगुणांच्या फेऱ्यांतून सुटण्याचा मार्ग आहे.

Where this applies

Triguṇa-rounds suffering. Hold the four.
One-ghāī fidelity in collective-practice. न चुके चि कोठें.
Predecessors' arrangement. पुढिलांची सोई.