Abhanga 292
The state of your mind is the root cause of everything else, so making the mind glad and at peace is the first and most essential practice of a spiritual life.
The verse
मन करा रे प्रसन्न । सर्व सिद्धीचें कारण । मोक्ष अथवा बंधन । सुख समाधान इच्छा ते ॥१॥ मनें प्रतिमा स्थापिली । मनें मना पूजा केली । मनें इच्छा पुरविली । मन माउली सकळांची ॥ध्रु.॥ मन गुरू आणि शिष्य । करी आपुलें चि दास्य । प्रसन्न आपआपणास । गति अथवा अधोगति ॥२॥ साधक वाचक पंडित । श्रोते वक्ते ऐका मात । नाहीं नाहीं आनुदैवत । तुका म्हणे दुसरें ॥३॥
Literal translation
Make the mind delighted — cause of all siddhi. Mokṣa or bandhana, sukha-samādhāna — those are its icchā. Mind established the pratimā, mind made pūjā of mind, mind fulfilled the icchā — mind is the māulī of all. Mind is guru and śiṣya — makes its own dāsya; prasanna to itself; gati or adhō-gati. Sādhakas, vācakas, pundits, śrotas, vaktas — listen to this māta — there is no other daivata — Tuka says — no second.
मराठी: मन करा रे प्रसन्न — सर्व सिद्धीचें कारण — मोक्ष अथवा बंधन — सुख समाधान इच्छा ते. मनें प्रतिमा स्थापिली — मनें मना पूजा केली — मनें इच्छा पुरविली — मन माउली सकळांची. मन गुरू आणि शिष्य — करी आपुलें चि दास्य — प्रसन्न आपआपणास — गति अथवा अधोगति. साधक वाचक पंडित — श्रोते वक्ते ऐका मात — नाहीं नाहीं आनुदैवत — तुकाराम म्हणतात — दुसरें.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| मन करा रे प्रसन्न | "make themana(mind)prasanna(delighted)" |
| सर्व सिद्धीचें कारण | "cause of allsiddhi |
| मोक्ष अथवा बंधन | "mokṣa or bandhana (bondage)" |
| सुख समाधान इच्छा ते | "sukha-samādhāna — those are itsicchā |
| मनें प्रतिमा स्थापिली | "mind established thepratimā(image)" |
| मनें मना पूजा केली | "mind madepūjāof mind" |
| मनें इच्छा पुरविली | "mind fulfilled theicchā |
| मन माउली सकळांची | "mind is themāulī(mother) ofsakaḷa(all)" |
| मन गुरू आणि शिष्य | "mind isguruandśiṣya |
| करी आपुलें चि दास्य | "makes its owndāsya(servant-status)" |
| प्रसन्न आपआपणास | "prasanna to itself" |
| गति अथवा अधोगति | "gati oradhō-gati(going-up or going-down)" |
| साधक वाचक पंडित श्रोते वक्ते ऐका मात | "sādhakas, vācakas, pundits, śrotas, vaktas — listen to thismāta |
| नाहीं नाहीं आनुदैवत दुसरें | "there isno other daivata — no second" |
What it means
One of the most-cited Tukaram abhangs in the entire Gatha. Mind-as-cause-of-all doctrine in radical form. Four claims:
-
मन करा रे प्रसन्न — सर्व सिद्धीचें कारण — make the mind delighted — cause of all siddhi. The opening-imperative. Manaḥ-prasāda (mind-delight) is the cause of all siddhi. Whether mokṣa, bondage, sukha, samādhāna — all depend on the mind's state.
-
मनें प्रतिमा स्थापिली — मनें मना पूजा केली — मनें इच्छा पुरविली — मन माउली सकळांची — mind established the image, mind made pūjā of mind, mind fulfilled the icchā — mind is mother-of-all. The radical pūjā-mechanic: the mind establishes the deity-image, performs the pūjā on itself, fulfills its own desires. Mind is the agent-pole, the object-pole, and the receiver-pole simultaneously. The mind is the māulī of all (= the mother-source of everything that happens in your experience). (Compare 263's clay-Pasupati pūjā passes through to the deity; here the meta-claim: all pūjā is mind's pūjā of mind.)
-
मन गुरू आणि शिष्य — करी आपुलें चि दास्य — प्रसन्न आपआपणास — गति अथवा अधोगति — mind is guru and śiṣya — makes its own dāsya — prasanna to itself — gati or adhō-gati. The complete-cycle. Mind is teacher and student; mind serves itself; mind is delighted by itself; mind takes itself to gati or adhō-gati. The mind is thecomplete-processof spiritual life.
-
नाहीं नाहीं आनुदैवत — दुसरें — there is no other daivata — no second. The closing-radical claim. No other daivata. Mind is the only daivata. (Reading: the daivata-experience happens in the mind; the deity-encounter is mind-mediated; the deity that appears to you is the mind's-form. This does not deny the deva-as-real; it claims the daivata-axis of experience is mind-located.)
[T] [Major warkari teaching, often quoted as manaḥ-prasāda doctrine]
For someone today
Make your mind glad — that is the root of every attainment, every siddhi. Whether you experience liberation or bondage, joy or contentment, comes down to what your mind wants and where it settles. The mind itself sets up the image of the deity, worships that image, and grants its own desires — it is the mother from which your whole experience is born, and it plays the role of guru, disciple, worshiper, and worshiped all at once. Tukaram's closing claim is bold: there is no other god beyond this, not because the divine isn't real, but because your encounter with the divine always happens within the mind. So the first and most essential practice is simply this: make the mind glad.
मराठी: मन प्रसन्न करा — हेच सर्व सिद्धीचं मूळ कारण आहे. तुम्हाला मोक्ष मिळतो की बंधन, सुख मिळतं की समाधान — हे सगळं तुमचं मन काय इच्छितं आणि कुठे स्थिर होतं यावर अवलंबून असतं. मनच देवाची प्रतिमा उभी करतं, त्याच प्रतिमेची पूजा करतं आणि स्वतःच्याच इच्छा पूर्ण करतं — मन हे तुमच्या संपूर्ण अनुभवाची जननी आहे, आणि तेच गुरू, शिष्य, पूजक आणि पूज्य एकाच वेळी असतं. तुकारामांचा शेवटचा दावा धाडसी आहे — या पलीकडे दुसरा कोणी देव नाही, कारण देव खरा नाही म्हणून नव्हे, तर देवाशी तुमची भेट नेहमी मनातच घडते म्हणून. म्हणून पहिली आणि सर्वात महत्त्वाची साधना हीच आहे — मन प्रसन्न ठेवा.
Where this applies
- Mind-prasāda is the primary-practice. All else flows.
- Mokṣaandbandhana are mind-states. External is downstream.
- Mind is māulī of your experience-world. Generative source.
- No other daivata — daivata-axis is mind-mediated. Not atheism; mind-locus.