Abhanga 278

Guard your wholehearted commitment fiercely, and watch the intention before the act, because a single divided or compromising thought is where betrayal actually begins.

The verse

Literal translation

What it means

An exclusive-commitment-to-Pāṇḍuranga abhang. Four claims:

1. आणिकांची स्तुति आम्हां ब्रम्हहत्या — एका वांचूनि त्या पांडुरंगा — praising others — for us, brahma-hatyā — except for that Pāṇḍuranga. The exclusive-commitment-vow. Praising any other deity (besides Pāṇḍuranga / Viṭṭhal) is equivalent to brahma-hatyā (the gravest sin) for the Vishnu-dāsa.

2. आम्हां विष्णुदासां एकविध भाव — न म्हणों या देव आणिकांसि — for us Vishnu-dāsas, eka-vidha-bhāva; we do not calldevato others. Eka-vidha-bhāva — single-fold feeling, exclusive devotion. We do not call othersdeva. The exclusive-commitment is structural.

3. शतखंड माझी होईल रसना — जरी या वचना पालटेन — my rasanā will become śata-khaṇḍa if I change this vow. The vow-emphasis: I would rather have my tongue split into a hundred pieces than change this vow. The seriousness of the exclusive-commitment.

4. तुका म्हणे मज आणिका संकल्पें — अवघीं च पापें घडतील — Tuka says: with a contrary sankalpa — all pāpas will be made. The closing structural-claim. Even a single contrary sankalpa (= intention to praise another, plan to honor another, decision to call-another-deva) — all the pāpas will be made. The single sankalpa is the root; the acts will follow.

[T]

For someone today

Tukaram makes an intense vow: for him, praising any other deity besides Panduranga would be as grave a sin as killing a scholar-priest, because his devotion runs in exactly one direction and he refuses to divide it. He would rather have his own tongue cut into a hundred pieces than break that vow — that's how seriously he takes single-minded devotion. And he goes a step further: it isn't just the act of straying that matters, even a single wavering intention is enough to set every kind of wrongdoing in motion, because the intention is the root that later grows into the deed. The deeper lesson reaches beyond his particular devotion to Panduranga — in any real, wholehearted commitment, to a person, a practice, or a path, watch the intention before it becomes an act, because that's where any real betrayal actually begins.

मराठी: तुकाराम एक तीव्र प्रतिज्ञा करतात — पांडुरंगाशिवाय दुसऱ्या कोणत्याही देवतेची स्तुती करणे त्यांच्यासाठी ब्रह्महत्येइतके मोठे पाप ठरेल, कारण त्यांची भक्ती एकाच दिशेने वाहते आणि ती विभागायला ते नकार देतात. ही प्रतिज्ञा मोडण्यापेक्षा आपली जीभ शंभर तुकड्यांत कापली जावी असे ते म्हणतात — इतक्या गांभीर्याने ते एकनिष्ठ भक्ती जपतात. आणि ते आणखी पुढे जाऊन सांगतात — केवळ भरकटण्याची कृतीच नव्हे, तर एक क्षणभराचा डळमळीत विचारही सगळ्या पापांना गती देण्यास पुरेसा असतो, कारण विचार हेच मूळ असते जे पुढे कृतीत रूपांतरित होते. हा धडा केवळ पांडुरंगावरील त्यांच्या भक्तीपुरता मर्यादित नाही — कोणत्याही खऱ्या, संपूर्ण समर्पणात, मग ती व्यक्ती असो, साधना असो वा मार्ग असो, कृतीच्या आधी असलेल्या विचारावर लक्ष ठेवा, कारण खरा विश्वासघात तिथूनच सुरू होतो.

Where this applies

• Exclusive-commitment principle. Eka-vidha-bhāva.
• Spreading praise = betrayal in the exclusive-relation.
• Single sankalpa makes all pāpas. Guard the sankalpa.
• Each bhakta has their own single-direction. Not anti-other-traditions.

Related verses

• Abhanga 4481 — Tukaram promises that sincerely calling on the Lord's name, knowingly or unknowingly, with
• Abhanga 4482 — Tukaram teaches that no ritual equals sincerely speaking the Lord's name, that self-center
• Abhanga 4582 — The closing verse of the whole Gatha promises that reading it with reverence fulfills the
• Abhanga 3902 — God himself takes joy in kirtana and walks alongside whoever sings his praise, as Narada's