Abhanga 255
This body and this life, right now, are themselves the blessing, not a lesser stage to escape but the very ground on which the highest devotion becomes possible.
The verse
इहलोकींचा हा देहे । देव इच्छिताती पाहें ॥१॥ धन्य आम्ही जन्मा आलों । दास विठोबाचे जालों ॥ध्रु.॥ आयुष्याच्या या साधनें । सच्चिदानंद पदवी घेणें ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे पावठणी । करूं स्वर्गाची निशाणी ॥३॥
Literal translation
This deha of iha-loka — the devas covet (it) — see. Blessed are we — came-to-birth — became Viṭhobā's dāsa. With this āyuṣya's sādhana — take the saccidānanda-padavī. Tuka says: I'll make a stepping-stone of svarga's nishāṇī.
मराठी: इहलोकींचा हा देहे — देव इच्छिताती पाहें. धन्य आम्ही जन्मा आलों — दास विठोबाचे जालों. आयुष्याच्या या साधनें — सच्चिदानंद पदवी घेणें. तुकाराम म्हणतात — पावठणी — करूं स्वर्गाची निशाणी.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| इहलोकींचा हा देहे | "this deha (body) of iha-loka (this-world)" |
| देव इच्छिताती पाहें | "the devas icchitātī (covet / desire) — see" |
| धन्य आम्ही जन्मा आलों | "blessed are we — came-to-birth" |
| दास विठोबाचे जालों | "becameViṭhobā's dāsa" |
| आयुष्याच्या या साधनें | "with this āyuṣya's (life-span's) sādhana (practice)" |
| सच्चिदानंद पदवी घेणें | "take the saccidānanda-padavī (status of being-consciousness-bliss)" |
| पावठणी करूं स्वर्गाची निशाणी | "I'll make apāvaṭaṇī(stepping-stone) ofsvarga's nishāṇī(banner)" |
What it means
A famous pro-this-body / pro-this-life abhang. Four claims:
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इहलोकींचा हा देहे — देव इच्छिताती पाहें — this body of this-world — the devas covet. The radical reversal of standard religious-ranking. The devas (the high-status cosmic-deities of svarga) — covet this earth-body. The this-life human-body is higher than svarga-deva-life in this register. (Compare 164 vaikuṇṭha has no kālā, 198 Pandhari rejects Vaikuṇṭha, 211 Amarāvatī deserted.)
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धन्य आम्ही जन्मा आलों — दास विठोबाचे जालों — blessed are we — came-to-birth — became Viṭhobā's dāsa. The blessing-claim. The coming-to-birth (in this human-body in this-life) is itself the blessing. And the content of the blessing: became Viṭhobā's dāsa. The iha-loka-deha gives access to the dāsa-of-Viṭhobā role that the devas-of-svarga cannot have.
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आयुष्याच्या या साधनें — सच्चिदानंद पदवी घेणें — with this life-span's sādhana — take the saccidānanda-padavī. The practice-claim. This life-span is enough — for the sādhana to take the saccidānanda-padavī (the seat of being-consciousness-bliss). Don't postpone the sādhana to another life or another world; this life-span is sufficient.
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तुका म्हणे पावठणी — करूं स्वर्गाची निशाणी — Tuka says: I'll make a stepping-stone of svarga's banner. The radical-closing. Pāvaṭaṇī — stepping-stone, foothold. Nishāṇī — banner, flag, mark. Tukaram declares: I'll step on the banner of svarga — i.e., use it as a stepping-stone, not as a goal. Svarga is below this practice, not above it. (This is structurally the same as 164's vaikuṇṭha-rejection; here in foot-on-the-banner image — even sharper.)
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For someone today
This abhang makes a foundational, life-affirming claim in bhakti tradition. Don't think less of your human body or ordinary life — the abhang says even the gods in heaven envy this earthly body you already have. Simply having been born is itself the blessing; the task now is to live it as a servant of Viṭhobā, not to wait for some future or better birth to begin. This one lifetime is enough to reach the highest state of being, consciousness, and bliss — there's no need to postpone your practice for another world. And Tuka goes further still: he treats even heaven's proudest banner as nothing more than a stepping-stone underfoot, because the true destination isn't up in the heavens, it's right here, in this body, in this life.
मराठी: ही ओवी भक्तिपरंपरेतला एक मूलभूत, जीवनाला सकारात्मकतेने स्वीकारणारा दावा मांडते. तुमच्या मानवी शरीराला किंवा या साध्या आयुष्याला कमी लेखू नका — ही ओवी म्हणते की स्वर्गातले देवही तुमच्याजवळ असलेल्या या पार्थिव शरीराचा हेवा करतात. जन्माला येणं हेच स्वतः वरदान आहे; आता काम एवढंच आहे की हे आयुष्य विठोबाचे दास म्हणून जगायचं, कुठल्या भविष्यातल्या किंवा चांगल्या जन्माची वाट पाहायची नाही. सच्चिदानंद अवस्था गाठण्यासाठी हे एक आयुष्यही पुरेसं आहे — साधनेसाठी कोणत्याही दुसऱ्या जगाची वाट पाहण्याची गरज नाही. आणि तुकाराम त्याहूनही पुढे जातात — ते स्वर्गाच्या अभिमानास्पद ध्वजालाही पायाखालचा एक साधा पायरीचा दगड मानतात, कारण खरं गंतव्यस्थान वरती स्वर्गात नाही, ते इथेच आहे, याच शरीरात, याच आयुष्यात.
Where this applies
- Iha-loka-deha is gods'-coveted. Don't despise this body / this life.
- Coming-to-birth is the blessing. Already given.
- This life-span is sufficient for saccidānanda-padavī. Don't postpone.
- Svarga is a stepping-stone, not a goal. Foot-on-the-banner.