संत साहित्य
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संत साहित्य · Tukārām · Abhanga 321 of 4582

Abhanga 321

This abhang names the deva-as-everything state:

When you've been thinking the deva is only-the-giver — and the abhang says also the experiencer
When what remains to speak ahead? — and you accept this exhaustion-of-words
When the nāda became all-Govinda — and you receive this ontological-dissolution

The verse

दाता नारायण । स्वयें भोगिता आपण ॥१॥ आतां काय उरलें वाचे । पुढें शब्द बोलायाचे ॥ध्रु.॥ देखती जे डोळे । रूप आपुलें तें खेळे ॥२॥ तुका म्हणे नाद । जाला अवघा गोविंद ॥३॥

Literal translation

English: The dātā — Nārāyaṇa — (he) himself the bhōgitā. Now — what remains in vāc — to speak words ahead? The ḍoḷē that see — his rūpa plays. Tuka says: the nāda — became avaghā Govinda.

मराठी: दाता नारायण — स्वयें भोगिता आपण. आतां काय उरलें वाचे — पुढें शब्द बोलायाचे. देखती जे डोळे — रूप आपुलें तें खेळे. तुकाराम म्हणतां — नाद — जाला अवघा गोविंद.

Word-by-word gloss
Marathi Meaning
दाता नारायण "the dātā — Nārāyaṇa"
स्वयें भोगिता आपण "(he) himself the bhōgitā (experiencer / enjoyer)"
आतां काय उरलें वाचे "now — what remains in vāc**"
पुढें शब्द बोलायाचे "to speak words ahead"
देखती जे डोळे "the ḍoḷē that see"
रूप आपुलें तें खेळे "his rūpa — plays (in them)"
नाद जाला अवघा गोविंद "the nāda — became avaghā Govinda (all-Govinda)"

What it means

A deva-as-everything abhang. Three claims:

  1. दाता नारायण — स्वयें भोगिता आपणNārāyaṇa is dātā — himself the bhōgitā. The radical-claim. Nārāyaṇa is both giver and experiencer. The standard framedeva gives, bhakta receives — is collapsed; deva gives, deva receives (= the bhakta is the channel through which deva-gives-to-deva).

  2. आतां काय उरलें वाचे — पुढें शब्द बोलायाचेnow what remains in vāc to speak ahead? The exhaustion-of-words. If deva is both giver and experiencer, what is there for the bhakta to say? The vāc has nothing-more. (Compare 250's not-doing-while-doing-all; here, the not-speaking-while-speech-continuing.)

  3. देखती जे डोळे — रूप आपुलें तें खेळेthe eyes that see — his rūpa plays. The seeing-experience. Whatever the eyes see is his rūpa playing. No separate-objects from his rūpa. (Compare 308's all is brahma-rūpa, no empty space.)

  4. तुका म्हणे नाद — जाला अवघा गोविंदthe nāda — became avaghā Govinda. The closing-dissolution. Nāda (sound — perhaps the anāhata-nāda / inner-sound, or all sound including external) — became all-Govinda. The sound-realm dissolved into Govinda. (Compare 199's one nāda Devakī's son became basavanta; here, the broader nāda-and-Govinda merger.)

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For someone today

This abhang names the deva-as-everything state:

  1. Deva is dātā and bhōgitā simultaneously. Dātā Nārāyaṇa — svayē bhōgitā āpaṇa. The giver-receiver duality is collapsed. Don't think of bhakti as transaction-with-an-other; the transaction is within-the-deva; the bhakta is the channel.

  2. Words are exhausted at this state. Ātām kāya uralē vāce — pudē śabda bolāyāce. When the deva-is-everything state arrives, speech runs out. The vāc has nothing-more-to-say.

  3. The seeing-eyes see only his rūpa. Dekhatī jē ḍoḷē — rūpa āpulē tē khēḷē. The seeing is recognized as his-rūpa-playing. No separate objects, no separate-bhakta-eye.

  4. Nāda became all-Govinda. Nāda jālā avaghā Govinda. The sound-realm itself dissolved into Govinda. The external-sound and the internal-Govinda are not different.

For today: recognize when the deva-as-everything state arrives; don't try to fill the silence with words; let the eyes recognize the seeing-as-his-rūpa-playing; let the nāda be Govinda.

This abhang is experientially-pointed: it describes a state, not a doctrine. Those who have entered this state recognize it; for those who have not, the abhang signals the destination.

(Caveat: this is not pantheism in the sense of denying the deva's distinct-personhood; the deva is dātā-and-bhōgitā as the personal-deity (Nārāyaṇa, Govinda), not as abstract-ground-of-being. The personal-deity is the everything.)

मराठी: ही ओवी deva-as-everything state नाव सांगते:

  1. देव simultaneously dātā आणि bhōgitā. दाता नारायण — स्वयें भोगिता आपण. Giver-receiver duality collapsed. Bhakti ला other-शी transaction समजू नका; transaction देवाच्या-आत; bhakta channel.

  2. या state ला words exhausted. आतां काय उरलें वाचे — पुढें शब्द बोलायाचे. Deva-is-everything state आल्यावर — speech run out होतं. Vāc ला nothing-more-to-say.

  3. Seeing-eyes फक्त त्याचं rūpa पाहतात. देखती जे डोळे — रूप आपुलें तें खेळे. Seeing his-rūpa-playing म्हणून recognized. Separate objects नाहीत, separate-bhakta-eye नाही.

  4. Nāda all-Govinda बनला. नाद जाला अवघा गोविंद. Sound-realm Govinda मध्ये dissolved. External-sound आणि internal-Govinda वेगळे नाहीत.

आज: deva-as-everything state कधी येतो ओळखा; silence ला words ने भरण्याचा प्रयत्न करू नका; eyes ला seeing-as-his-rūpa-playing recognize करू द्या; nāda ला Govinda असू द्या.

ही ओवी experientially-pointed: एक state describe करते, doctrine नाही. या state मध्ये गेलेले recognize करतात; न-गेलेल्यांना abhang destination signal करते.

(Caveat: हे देवाच्या distinct-personhood deny करण्याच्या sense मध्ये pantheism नाही; देव personal-deity (Nārāyaṇa, Govinda) म्हणून dātā-and-bhōgitā, abstract-ground-of-being म्हणून नाही. Personal-deity everything.)

Where this applies

Related verses