संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 299 of 4582

Abhanga 299

This is one of Tukaram's most-applicable practical-rules:

When some practice seems asādhya — and the abhang says abhyāsa makes it sādhya
When others tremble at what you can do (or vice-versa) — and you have to recognize practice-determines-capacity
When the cause is abhyāsa — and you receive this discipline-rule

The verse

साधूनी बचनाग खाती तोळा तोळा । आणिकातें डोळां न पाहवे ॥१॥ साधूनी भुजंग धरितील हातीं । आणिकें कापती देखोनियां ॥२॥ असाध्य तें साध्य करितां सायास । कारण अभ्यास तुका म्हणे ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: Practiced, (they) eat bachanāg — tōḷā-tōḷā; others cannot bear to look at it. Practiced, (they) hold the bhujanga in hand; others tremble at the sight. Tuka says: the asādhya — making it sādhya by sāyāsa — the cause is abhyāsa.

मराठी: साधूनी बचनाग खाती तोळा तोळा — आणिकातें डोळां न पाहवे. साधूनी भुजंग धरितील हातीं — आणिकें कापती देखोनियां. असाध्य तें साध्य करितां सायास — कारण अभ्यास तुकाराम म्हणतात.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
साधूनी बचनाग खाती तोळा तोळा "practiced, (they) eat bachanāg — tōḷā-tōḷā** (measure-by-measure)"
आणिकातें डोळां न पाहवे "others — cannot bear to look at it"
साधूनी भुजंग धरितील हातीं "practiced, (they) hold the bhujanga in hand"
आणिकें कापती देखोनियां "others — tremble at the sight"
असाध्य तें साध्य करितां सायास "the asādhya — making it sādhya by sāyāsa (effort)"
कारण अभ्यास तुका म्हणे "the kāraṇa (cause) is abhyāsa (practice) — Tuka says"

What it means

A short practice-makes-impossible-possible abhang. Three claims:

  1. साधूनी बचनाग खाती तोळा तोळा — आणिकातें डोळां न पाहवे — practiced, eat bachanāg tola-tola; others cannot even look. The bachanāg-eaters image. Some snake-charmers and sādhus practice eating arsenic in increasing-doses until they can eat substantial amounts without harm. Others cannot even bear to look at the substance. Practice transforms toxicity into food.

  2. साधूनी भुजंग धरितील हातीं — आणिकें कापती देखोनियां — practiced, hold the cobra in hand; others tremble at sight. Snake-charmers hold bhujanga (cobras) by daily-practice. Others tremble at the sight of the cobra. Practice transforms threat into companion.

  3. असाध्य तें साध्य करितां सायास — कारण अभ्यास — the asādhya — made sādhya by sāyāsa — cause is abhyāsa. The general-rule. Asādhya (impossible) → sādhya (possible) by sāyāsa (effort). The kāraṇa (cause) is abhyāsa (practice). The transformation-rule is abhyāsa.

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For someone today

This is one of Tukaram's most-applicable practical-rules:

  1. Practice transforms what looks impossible. Asādhya tē sādhya — kāraṇa abhyāsa. The impossible becomes possible by abhyāsa. This applies to any practice: spiritual-discipline, music, language, skill, relationship, self-knowledge.

  2. Two specific examples: bachanāg-eating, bhujanga-holding. Both are extreme. Tukaram chose extreme-examples to make the transformation-claim irrefutable: if practice can transform toxicity into food and threat into companion, then no asādhya is structurally beyond practice.

  3. Others cannot bear to look / tremble at sight. This is important: what is impossible-for-others is sādhya-for-you-by-abhyāsa. Don't take others' fear / inability as the limit of the possible. Their limit is their non-abhyāsa, not your limit.

  4. The cause is abhyāsa*. Kāraṇa abhyāsa. Don't attribute the transformation to talent, gift, special-grace; the cause is abhyāsa. (This is one direction of the truth; the complementary direction — grace also matters — is elsewhere in the corpus*. Both true.)

For today: recognize that what looks asādhya is sādhya-by-abhyāsa; don't accept others' fear / inability as your limit; attribute your transformations to abhyāsa; take up the abhyāsa for whatever asādhya you face.

This abhang is empowering: it places the cause in abhyāsa, which is available to anyone who undertakes it. The transformation-mechanism is universal, not gifted-to-special-people.

(Caveat: abhyāsa in this abhang is deliberate, sustained, increasing-load practice; not random-effort or one-time-attempt. The bachanāg-eater builds tolerance over years; the bhujanga-holder practices daily. The abhyāsa-quality is deliberate-incremental-sustained**.)

मराठी: ही तुकारामांच्या most-applicable practical-rules पैकी एक:

  1. Practice impossible-वाटणारं transform करतं. असाध्य तें साध्य — कारण अभ्यास. Impossible practice ने possible. हे कोणत्याही practice ला लागू: spiritual-discipline, music, language, skill, relationship, self-knowledge.

  2. दोन specific examples: bachanāg-खाणं, bhujanga-धरणं. दोन्ही extreme. तुकारामांनी extreme-examples निवडले — transformation-claim irrefutable करायला: practice toxicity-ला-food मध्ये आणि threat-ला-companion मध्ये transform करू शकतं तर — कोणतंही asādhya structurally practice च्या पलीकडे नाही.

  3. इतरांना पाहता येत नाही / पाहून थरथरतात. महत्त्वाचं: इतरांना impossible असलेलं तुम्हाला abhyāsa ने sādhya. इतरांची भीती / inability तुमची मर्यादा घेऊ नका. त्यांची मर्यादा त्यांचं non-abhyāsa, तुमची मर्यादा नाही.

  4. Cause abhyāsa* आहे. कारण अभ्यास. Transformation talent, gift, special-grace ला attribute करू नका; cause abhyāsa. (One direction of the truth; complementary direction — grace पण matter करते — corpus मध्ये elsewhere*. दोन्ही true.)

आज: asādhya वाटणारं abhyāsa ने sādhya होतं ओळखा; इतरांची भीती / inability तुमची मर्यादा घेऊ नका; transformations abhyāsa ला attribute करा; जे-काहीही asādhya face करत आहात — abhyāsa सुरू करा.

ही ओवी empowering: cause abhyāsa मध्ये ठेवते, जो कोणीही जो undertake करतो त्याला available. Transformation-mechanism universal, gifted-to-special-people नाही.

(Caveat: abhyāsa इथे deliberate, sustained, increasing-load practice; random-effort नाही किंवा one-time-attempt नाही. Bachanāg-eater years मध्ये tolerance build करतो; bhujanga-holder daily practice करतो. Abhyāsa-quality deliberate-incremental-sustained**.)

Where this applies

Bhakti hold-bhujanga

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