Abhanga 308
If everything is filled with the divine, a sacred image can be God too when approached with real faith, and criticizing it from mere literal-mindedness, without that faith, is unknowingly criticizing God.
The verse
अवघें ब्रम्हरूप रिता नाहीं ठाव । प्रतिमा तो देव कैसा नव्हे ॥१॥ नाहीं भाव तया सांगावें तें किती । आपुल्याला मतीं पाषांडिया ॥ध्रु.॥ जया भावें संत बोलिले वचन । नाहीं अनुमोदन शाब्दिकांसि ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे संतीं भाव केला बळी । न कळतां खळीं दूषिला देव ॥३॥
Literal translation
All is brahma-rūpa — no rita place. How then is the pratimā not the deva? No bhāva — to such, how much to say? — the pāṣāṇḍiyā by their own mati. What bhāva the saints spoke their vacana with — no anumodana to the śābdikas. Tuka says: the saints made the bhāva baḷī — un-knowing — by khaḷas — they dūṣila the deva.
मराठी: अवघें ब्रम्हरूप रिता नाहीं ठाव — प्रतिमा तो देव कैसा नव्हे. नाहीं भाव तया सांगावें तें किती — आपुल्याला मतीं पाषांडिया. जया भावें संत बोलिले वचन — नाहीं अनुमोदन शाब्दिकांसि. तुकाराम म्हणतां — संतीं भाव केला बळी — न कळतां खळीं दूषिला देव.
Word-by-word gloss
| Marathi | Meaning |
|---|---|
| अवघें ब्रम्हरूप रिता नाहीं ठाव | "all isbrahma-rūpa— norita(empty) place" |
| प्रतिमा तो देव कैसा नव्हे | "how is thepratimānot the deva?" |
| नाहीं भाव तया सांगावें तें किती | "nobhāva— to such, how much to say?" |
| आपुल्याला मतीं पाषांडिया | "thepāṣāṇḍiyāby their ownmati" |
| जया भावें संत बोलिले वचन | "whatbhāvathe saints spoke theirvacanawith" |
| नाहीं अनुमोदन शाब्दिकांसि | "noanumodanato theśābdikas(mere-verbalists)" |
| संतीं भाव केला बळी | "the saints madebhāvabaḷī(strong)" |
| न कळतां खळीं दूषिला देव | "un-knowing — bykhaḷas(wicked-disputers) — theydūṣilathe deva" |
What it means
A pratimā-defense abhang. Three claims:
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अवघें ब्रम्हरूप रिता नाहीं ठाव — प्रतिमा तो देव कैसा नव्हे — all is brahma-rūpa, no empty place; how is the pratimā not the deva? The radical-pratimā-claim. Since the entire-existence is brahma-rūpa with no empty-place, the pratimā too is brahma-rūpa — therefore the deva. The anti-idolatry argument fails by this metaphysics. (Note: this is not the standard pūjā-mechanic of 263 — clay-Pasupati, pūjā-passes-through-to-deity. Here, the pratimā itself is the deva by the all-is-brahma-rūpa metaphysics. Both readings coexist in Tukaram's corpus — the pratimā is the deva when bhāva is present; the pratimā is just-clay when bhāva is absent.)
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नाहीं भाव तया सांगावें तें किती — आपुल्याला मतीं पाषांडिया — no bhāva — to such, how much to say? — paṣāṇḍiyā by their own mati. The recognition: the dispute is from those without bhāva. Paṣāṇḍiyā — those of broken-faith / heterodox-skeptics — dispute by their own mati. Without bhāva, no amount of explanation works. (Compare 305's fever cannot taste sugar; the paṣāṇḍiyā cannot taste the pratimā-as-deva.)
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जया भावें संत बोलिले वचन — नाहीं अनुमोदन शाब्दिकांसि — संतीं भाव केला बळी — न कळतां खळीं दूषिला देव — what bhāva the saints spoke with — no anumodana to śābdikas — saints made bhāva strong — un-knowing khaḷas criticized the deva. The defense of the saints' position:
- The saints spoke their vacana with bhāva — the bhāva is the carrier of the meaning.
- Mere-verbalists (śābdikas) who take only the literal-words without the bhāva — should not be given anumodana (agreement).
- The saints made the bhāva strong (not the literal-text strong).
- Un-knowing khaḷas (wicked-disputers) criticize the deva — they critique what the saints' bhāva pointed-to without recognizing the bhāva-pointing.
[T]
For someone today
This abhang names a pratimā-and-bhāva defense:
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All is brahma-rūpa with no empty space. Avaghē brahma-rūpa rita nāhī ṭhāva. The metaphysical-claim. If all is brahma-rūpa, then the pratimā is too. The anti-idolatry critique fails on this metaphysics. (Note: this is not literal-pratimā-worship-only; it is recognition that the pratimā can be the deva when bhāva is present.)
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No bhāva = nothing to say. Nāhī bhāva tayā sāngāvē tē kitī. Without bhāva, no amount of explanation works. The paṣāṇḍiyā argues by their own mati; they cannot be argued-out of paṣāṇḍa-state by argument alone. Bhāva-arrival is the cure; argument is not.
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Saints' vacana carries bhāva, not literal-text-only. Jayā bhāvē samta bolilē vacana. The saints' speech carries bhāva; the bhāva is the substance, the vacana is the form. Don't anumodana the literal-readers (śābdikas) who take the form without the substance.
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Saints made bhāva strong; khaḷas criticize the deva by un-knowing. Samtīm bhāva kelā baḷī — na kaḷatām khaḷīm dūṣilā deva. The closing-claim. The saints' contribution is bhāva-strength; the khaḷas' contribution is deva-criticism without knowing. Both modes coexist; the bhakta sides with the saints.
For today: recognize that the pratimā can be the deva when bhāva is present; don't argue with paṣāṇḍiyā by-mati; recognize that the saints' vacana carries bhāva not literal-text-only; don't be the un-knowing khaḷa who criticizes the deva.
This abhang is important methodologically: it places bhāva at the center of pratimā-recognition, vacana-interpretation, and deva-respect. Bhāva-presence makes the pratimā the deva; bhāva-absence makes argument futile; bhāva-carrying is the saints' speech-mode; bhāva-absence is the khaḷa-mode that criticizes the deva.
मराठी: ही ओवी pratimā-and-bhāva defense नाव सांगते:
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सर्व brahma-rūpa, empty space नाही. अवघें ब्रम्हरूप रिता नाहीं ठाव. Metaphysical-claim. सर्व brahma-rūpa असेल तर — pratimā ही. Anti-idolatry critique या metaphysics वर fail होतं.
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Bhāva नाही = सांगायला काही नाही. नाहीं भाव तया सांगावें तें किती. Bhāva-शिवाय, कितीही explanation काम करत नाही. Paṣāṇḍiyā आपल्या-mati ने argue करतो; फक्त argument ने त्यांना paṣāṇḍa-state मधून बाहेर काढता येत नाही. Bhāva-arrival cure; argument नाही.
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Saints चं vacana bhāva carry करतं, फक्त literal-text नाही. जया भावें संत बोलिले वचन. Saints चं speech bhāva carry करतं; bhāva substance, vacana form. Literal-readers (śābdikas) ला anumodana देऊ नका जे form घेतात substance शिवाय.
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Saints ने bhāva strong केला; khaḷas un-knowing-ने देवाला dūṣila करतात. संतीं भाव केला बळी — न कळतां खळीं दूषिला देव. Closing-claim. Saints चं contribution bhāva-strength; khaḷas चं contribution un-knowing-ने deva-criticism. दोन्ही modes coexist; bhakta saints ची side घेतो.
आज: bhāva present असेल तर pratimā देव होऊ शकतो ओळखा; paṣāṇḍiyā शी by-mati argue करू नका; saints चं vacana bhāva carry करतं — फक्त literal-text नाही ओळखा; un-knowing khaḷa होऊ नका जो देवाला criticize करतो.
Methodologically महत्त्वाचं: bhāva ला pratimā-recognition, vacana-interpretation, deva-respect च्या केंद्रस्थानी ठेवते. Bhāva-presence pratimā ला देव बनवते; bhāva-absence argument futile करते; bhāva-carrying saints चं speech-mode; bhāva-absence khaḷa-mode जो देवाला criticize करतो.
Where this applies
- All is brahma-rūpa — pratimā is too with bhāva.
- No bhāva = argument futile. Bhāva-arrival is the cure.
- Saints' vacana carries bhāva, not literal-text. Don't endorse mere-verbalists.
- Khaḷas criticize the deva un-knowingly. Side with the saints.